Added script to dynamically change window shortnames

i3-autoname-workspaces.py

@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@
 import signal
 import sys
 
+from util import *
+
 
 # Add icons here for common programs you use.  The keys are the X window class
 # (WM_CLASS) names and the icons can be any text you want to display. However
@@ -61,6 +63,7 @@
 
 i3 = i3ipc.Connection()
 
+
 # Returns an array of the values for the given property from xprop.  This
 # requires xorg-xprop to be installed.
 def xprop(win_id, property):
@@ -84,19 +87,22 @@ def icon_for_window(window):
 # renames all workspaces based on the windows present
 def rename():
     for workspace in i3.get_tree().workspaces():
-        icons = [icon_for_window(w) for w in workspace.leaves()]
-        icon_str = ': ' + ' '.join(icons) if len(icons) else ''
-        new_name = str(workspace.num) + icon_str
+        name_parts = parse_workspace_name(workspace.name)
+        name_parts['icons'] = ' '.join([icon_for_window(w) for w in workspace.leaves()])
+        new_name = construct_workspace_name(name_parts)
         i3.command('rename workspace "%s" to "%s"' % (workspace.name, new_name))
 
 rename()
 
 # exit gracefully when ctrl+c is pressed
 def signal_handler(signal, frame):
-    # rename workspaces to just numbers on exit to indicate that this script is
-    # no longer running
+    # rename workspaces to just numbers and shortnames on exit to indicate that
+    # this script is no longer running
     for workspace in i3.get_tree().workspaces():
-        i3.command('rename workspace "%s" to "%d"' % (workspace.name, workspace.num))
+        name_parts = parse_workspace_name(workspace.name)
+        name_parts['icons'] = None
+        new_name = construct_workspace_name(name_parts)
+        i3.command('rename workspace "%s" to "%s"' % (workspace.name, new_name))
     i3.main_quit()
     sys.exit(0)
 signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, signal_handler)

i3-rename-workspace.py

@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+## This script is used to dynamically rename workspace names in i3.
+# When run, it presents a text field popup using zenity, in which you can type a
+# new name for the workspace. It is compatible with the i3-autoname-workspaces
+# script and renames only the "shortname" of the workspace, keeping the number
+# and window icons in place.
+#
+# Note that this script can be used without i3-autoname-workspaces.py
+#
+# Dependencies:
+# * zenity - install with system package manager
+# * i3ipc - install with pip
+
+import i3ipc
+import logging
+import subprocess as proc
+import re
+import sys
+
+from util import *
+
+
+logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
+
+i3 = i3ipc.Connection()
+workspace = [w for w in i3.get_workspaces() if w.focused][0]
+name_parts = parse_workspace_name(workspace.name)
+logging.info("Current workspace shortname: '%s'" % name_parts['shortname'])
+
+try:
+    # use zenity to show a text box asking the user for a new workspace name
+    prompt_title = "Rename Workspace:" if name_parts['shortname'] == None else "Rename Workspace '%s':" % name_parts['shortname']
+    response = proc.check_output(['zenity', '--entry', "--text=%s" % prompt_title])
+    new_shortname = response.decode('utf-8').strip()
+    logging.info("New name from user: '%s'" % new_shortname)
+
+    if ' ' in new_shortname:
+        msg = "No spaces allowed in workspace names"
+        logging.error(msg)
+        proc.check_call(['zenity', '--error', '--text=%s' % msg])
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+
+    name_parts['shortname'] = new_shortname
+    new_name = construct_workspace_name(name_parts)
+
+    # get the current workspace and rename it
+    workspace = [w for w in i3.get_workspaces() if w.focused][0]
+    res = i3.command('rename workspace "%s" to "%s"' % (workspace.name, new_name))
+except proc.CalledProcessError as e:
+    logging.info("Cancelled by user, exiting...")

util.py

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import re
+
+# Used so that we can keep the workspace's name when we add icons to it.
+# Returns a dictionary with the following keys: 'num', 'shortname', and 'icons'
+# Any field that's missing in @name will be None in the returned dict
+def parse_workspace_name(name):
+    return re.match('(?P<num>\d+):?(?P<shortname>\w+)? ?(?P<icons>.+)?', name).groupdict()
+
+# Given a dictionary with 'num', 'shortname', 'icons', return the formatted name
+# by concatenating them together.
+def construct_workspace_name(parts):
+    new_name = str(parts['num'])
+    if parts['shortname'] or parts['icons']:
+        new_name += ':'
+
+    if parts['shortname']:
+        new_name += parts['shortname']
+
+    if parts['icons']:
+        new_name += ' ' + parts['icons']
+
+    return new_name