Autokey - Focus App Window If Running, Launch App If Not

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bash process-management python3 pgrep autokey
                          I'm trying to obtain the processID of pcmanfm like this:

    pgrep -f "pcmanfm"

When pcmanfm is not running, the command above returns nothing (as I expect).

However, when I run the command from python, it returns a process ID even when pcmanfm is not running:

    processID = os.system('pgrep -f "pcmanfm"')

Furthermore, if you run the command above multiple times at a python3 prompt, it returns a different processID each time. All the while, pcmanfm has been closed prior to these commands.

    >>> processID = os.system('pgrep -f "pcmanfm"')
    17412
    >>> processID = os.system('pgrep -f "pcmanfm"')
    17414
    >>> processID = os.system('pgrep -f "pcmanfm"')
    17416

This is really messing up my ability to launch pcmanfm if it isn't currently running. My script thinks it is running when it isn't.

Why is this happening?

I'm actually encountering this issue in an Autokey  script that I've attempted to write based on this video  I watched. Here's my current script:

    processID = system.exec_command('pgrep -f "pcmanfm" | head -1',True)
    dialog.info_dialog("info",processID)
    
    if (processID):
        cmd = "wmctrl -lp | grep " + processID + " | awk '{print $1}'"
        windowID = system.exec_command(cmd,True)
        # dialog.info_dialog("info",windowID)
        cmd = "wmctrl -iR " + windowID
        #dialog.info_dialog("info",cmd)
        system.exec_command(cmd,False)
    else:
        #os.system("pcmanfm /home/user/Downloads")
        cmd = "/usr/bin/pcmanfm /home/user/Downloads"
        system.exec_command(cmd,False)

The problem is, I keep getting processIDs even when pcmanfm isn't running. The script properly focuses pcmanfm if it is running, but it won't launch it if it isn't.

**Update:** I finally got this script to work by taking out -f and replacing it with -nx (from @they 's advice). Also, I added some exception handling to ignore autokey exceptions caused by empty output that's expected. Additionally, I converted it to a (more flexible) function so that it will service a wider variety of commands/applications:

    import re
    def focusOrLaunch(launchCommand):
        appName = re.findall('[^\s/]+(?=\s|$)',launchCommand)
        processID = None
        try:
            processID = system.exec_command('pgrep -nx "' + appName + '"',True)
        except Exception as e:
            #dialog.info_dialog("ERROR",str(e))
            pass
    
        #dialog.info_dialog("info",processID)
        if (processID):
            cmd = "wmctrl -lp | grep " + processID + " | awk '{print $1}'"
            windowID = system.exec_command(cmd,True)
            # dialog.info_dialog("info",windowID)
            cmd = "wmctrl -iR " + windowID
            #dialog.info_dialog("info",cmd)
            system.exec_command(cmd,False)
        else:
            system.exec_command(launchCommand,False)
        
    cmd = "/usr/bin/pcmanfm ~/Downloads"
    focusOrLaunch(cmd)

                        
Asked by Lonnie Best (5415 rep)
Jan 18, 2022, 03:57 PM
Last activity: Jan 22, 2022, 12:14 AM
Autokey - Focus App Window If Running, Launch App If Not

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