I'm developing a script using wmctrl to restore window positions across different monitors and workspaces. However, I’ve encountered an issue where wmctrl reports different coordinates than the ones it was instructed to set. ### Example: Gnome Maps Here is an example using Gnome Maps (gnome-maps): boris@E5440-DELL:~$ wmctrl -lG | grep Maps 0x01400004 0 240 420 1800 900 E5440-DELL Maps boris@E5440-DELL:~$ wmctrl -ir 0x01400004 -e 0,35,80,1900,500 boris@E5440-DELL:~$ wmctrl -lG | grep Maps 0x01400004 0 70 160 1900 542 E5440-DELL Maps boris@E5440-DELL:~$ wmctrl -ir 0x01400004 -e 0,120,210,1800,900 boris@E5440-DELL:~$ wmctrl -lG | grep Maps 0x01400004 0 240 420 1800 900 E5440-DELL Maps When setting the window to (x=120, y=210), wmctrl reports (x=240, y=420). However, xwininfo confirms the coordinates were correctly set: boris@E5440-DELL:~$ xwininfo xwininfo: Please select the window about which you would like information by clicking the mouse in that window. xwininfo: Window id: 0x1400004 "Maps" Absolute upper-left X: 120 Absolute upper-left Y: 210 Relative upper-left X: 120 Relative upper-left Y: 210 Width: 1800 Height: 900 Depth: 32 Visual: 0xad Visual Class: TrueColor Border width: 0 Class: InputOutput Colormap: 0x1400001 (not installed) Bit Gravity State: NorthWestGravity Window Gravity State: NorthWestGravity Backing Store State: NotUseful Save Under State: no Map State: IsViewable Override Redirect State: no Corners: +120+210 -0+210 -0--30 +120--30 -geometry 1800x900-0--30 ### Example: Discord Here’s another example with Discord (com.discordapp.Discord): boris@E5440-DELL:~$ wmctrl -lG | grep Discord 0x02c00005 1 364 199 1200 800 E5440-DELL Friends - Discord boris@E5440-DELL:~$ wmctrl -ir 0x02c00005 -e 0,55,80,1200,800 boris@E5440-DELL:~$ wmctrl -lG | grep Discord 0x02c00005 1 69 129 1200 800 E5440-DELL Friends - Discord boris@E5440-DELL:~$ wmctrl -ir 0x02c00005 -e 0,350,150,1200,800 boris@E5440-DELL:~$ wmctrl -lG | grep Discord 0x02c00005 1 364 199 1200 800 E5440-DELL Friends - Discord Again, the set coordinates (x=350, y=150) are confirmed by xwininfo but wmctrl reports (x=364, y=199). boris@E5440-DELL:~$ xwininfo xwininfo: Please select the window about which you would like information by clicking the mouse in that window. xwininfo: Window id: 0x2c00005 "Friends - Discord" Absolute upper-left X: 350 Absolute upper-left Y: 150 Relative upper-left X: 14 Relative upper-left Y: 49 Width: 1200 Height: 800 Depth: 24 Visual: 0x21 Visual Class: TrueColor Border width: 0 Class: InputOutput Colormap: 0x20 (installed) Bit Gravity State: NorthWestGravity Window Gravity State: NorthWestGravity Backing Store State: NotUseful Save Under State: no Map State: IsViewable Override Redirect State: no Corners: +350+150 -370+150 -370-130 +350-130 -geometry 1200x800+350+150 ### Conclusion In most cases, the reported window coordinates are off by a factor of 2. For example, when a window is set to (x=20, y=10), wmctrl reports (x=40, y=20). However, some applications, such as Discord (com.discordapp.Discord) and GlobalProtect (yuezk/GlobalProtect-openconnect), exhibit unpredictable behavior where the discrepancy doesn’t follow the factor-of-2 pattern. If it were simply a factor-of-2 scaling issue, the discrepancy could be resolved mathematically. However, the unpredictable behavior in certain applications complicates things. At first wmctrl seemed like a suitable tool for this purpose, but these discrepancies make it unreliable for my use case. Any insights would be greatly appreciated! Is this behavior expected in wmctrl, or could it be a bug? Has anyone experienced similar issues with wmctrl reporting incorrect window coordinates?

I try to figure out the way to make it permanent: I know that's the firefox default behavior. I have no clue how it's implemented. How to do it?

A big part of my workflow is based on using shortcuts. Currently I use xbindkeys and wmctrl to run-or-raise an application. E.g: Super+F brings up firefox or run it if not running. Autokey works fine with KDE and I could also use KDE native custom shortcut manager to replace xbindkeys but I can't find (and I googled a lot) a way to determine if a window/application is running and if not, raise it. I can probably use ps or a similar command to find if an application is running and if not, launch it, but it goes to the final problem: how to raise (or focus) an existing running window/application programmatically? There seems to be some kind of gdbus solution for GNOME but of course this won't work in KDE. Does anyone have an idea or clue of what can I do?

I have a script that I run on RHEL (currently 8.4, but this has worked on many previous versions). It uses wmctrl -a to activate specific windows. I just created a Fedora 36 VM on VirtualBox and there wmctrl -a does nothing. Likewise wmctrl -l lists nothing. I am using the default window manager which I believe is Gnome 41. Can anyone assist?

A while ago I wrote a wmctrl-based script I used to implement a hotkey to focus into running *gnome-terminal* instance in order to avoid using mouse when I need to run anything in terminal. After an upgrade to Fedora 33 it seems like wmctrl -l doesn't list *gnome-terminal* windows anymore. It does list other windows though - like Chrome browser or Electron apps.

mdulko:~/ $ wmctrl -l
0x00a00001  3 fedora The Dandy Warhols - Country Leaver
0x02a0004c  2 fedora release – lower-constraints.txt
0x01c00007  1 fedora Slack |  | 
0x01000007  0 fedora Chrome/Chromium 85.0.4183.83 regression workaround : swaywm - Brave

This is probably related to usage of Wayland which Fedora defaults to and I use. To script that I'll probably need to call lookingGlass API over gdbus. Is that a good clue?

In the era of X11, I could do wmctrl -l to list available windows, that I can use in my scripts.

$ wmctrl -l
0x01000050  0 my-pc project1 – Readme.md

But nowadays most application use Wayland. The above command only shows windows that are running with XWayland. I want to be able to use applications in Wayland mode and at the same time be able to list their windows for my scripts. Is that possible? I am using Arch Linux with KDE.

I am trying to use wmctrl to move a window to a workspace. By wmctrl -l window is 0x03e00057 9 meer montazo - Google Search — Mozilla Firefox Command and output is /usr/local/bin/wmctrl -v -i 0x03e00057 -t 3 envir_utf8: 0 No window was specified. My understanding is that -i points to the hex id of the window (first field in the output list?), which in my simple mind i am doing here. Where am I astray?

I would like to execute a command-line command that activates "click and drag" mouse selection on a single local X11 screen. The goal is to: - get the selected rectangle **X** and **Y** coordinates, - get the rectangle **width** and **height**, - output these values to **stdout**, - (optional) draw a selection border while dragging the mouse.

I need to check how the browser's WM_NAME (let's say google-chrome) is changing in real time. How can I do that ?

I'm using Mint 18.1 cinnamon. I'm trying to write a little bash program to move windows around. I have a command that will remove maximized_vert and maximized_horz then move the window. It works fine if the the target window is maximized or just floating, but if the window is snapped into place using super [arrow] ( think this is tiling? ) it has no affect. The code is as follows wmctrl -r "$CHROME" -i -b remove,maximized_vert wmctrl -r "$CHROME" -i -b remove,maximized_horz wmctrl -r "$CHROME" -i -e '0,0,0,500,500' Where "$CHROME" is the hex address or the window. I repeat it works if the window is maxamized or if it is just floating but does not work when the window is tiled or snapped using super [arrow] Thanks for the help

It's possible to get the current tab with xdotool: # set focus to address on browser xdotool search --onlyvisible --classname Navigator windowactivate --sync key F6 # copy address from browser tab to clipboard xdotool search --onlyvisible --classname Navigator windowactivate --sync key Ctrl+c # get off the focus from address from browser tab xdotool search --onlyvisible --classname Navigator windowactivate --sync key F6 # delivery of clipboard content to variable clipboard=xclip -o -selection clipboard # clear clipboard xsel -bc; xsel -c # echo URL of active tab of active browser echo $clipboard Since xdotool is buggy and sometimes fires keys without stopping with the code above, I need another way to do the same, perhaps with wmctrl. This is what I tried, using wmctrl on bash; it didn't work for me: id=$(wmctrl -l | grep -oP "(?<=)(0x\w+)(?=.*Firefox)") # set focus to address on browser xdotool key --window $id "ctrl+l" # copy address from browser tab xdotool key --window $id "ctrl+c" # delivery of clipboard content to variable url=xclip -o -selection clipboard # clear clipboard xsel -bc; xsel -c # echo URL of active tab of active browser echo $url

I am running Ubuntu 21.10 on a Lenovo Thinkpad with Gnome has my desktop. When I run xsane my "Advanced Options" window is tiny (10 pixels wide and not much more high) and I cannot seem to resize it. Thus I do not have access to its functions. When I move my mouse near edges of the window I do not get the resize pointer. When I right click on the title bar, "Maximize" and "Resize" are greyed out and unavailable. Running

sudo apt purge xsane
sudo apt install xsane

did not fix the problem. When I run

-r 'Advanced options HP Color LaserJet MFP M476dw (3DBC02):HP Color LaserJet MFP M476dw (3DBC02)' -e 0,200,300,300,300

I can move the tiny window around but I cannot affect its size. It remembers this tiny size between sessions so it is being stored in an file somewhere. In the directory

~/.sane/xsane

there are three settings files:

.rc

:

"xsane-version"
"0.999"
"xsane-mode"
1
"tmp-path"
"/tmp/"
"working-directory"
"/home/brett"
"filename"
"/media/Shared/Joelle/page0008.png"
"filetype"
".png"
"cms-function"
1
"cms-intent"
0
"cms-bpc"
0
"image-umask"
95
"directory-umask"
23
"fax-project"
"/home/brett/faxproject"
"fax-command"
"sendfax"
"fax-receiver-option"
"-d"
"fax-postscript-option"
""
"fax-normal-option"
"-l"
"fax-fine-option"
"-m"
"fax-viewer"
"ghostscript"
"fax-width"
14135902
"fax-height"
19462666
"fax-left-offset"
0
"fax-bottom-offset"
0
"fax-fine-mode"
1
"fax-ps-flatedecoded"
1
"e-mail-from"
""
"e-mail-reply-to"
""
"e-mail-smtp-server"
""
"e-mail-smtp-port"
25
"e-mail-authentication"
0
"e-mail-auth-user"
""
"e-mail-auth-pass"
""
"e-mail-pop3-server"
""
"e-mail-pop3-port"
110
"e-mail-project"
"/home/brett/emailproject"
"e-mail-filetype"
".png"
"multipage-project"
"/home/brett/tmp/temp"
"multipage-filetype"
".pdf"
"ocr-command"
"gocr"
"ocr-inputfile-option"
"-i"
"ocr-outputfile-options"
"-o"
"ocr-use-gui-pipe"
0
"ocr-gui-outfd-option"
"-x"
"ocr-progress-keyword"
""
"browser"
"/usr/bin/sensible-browser"
"jpeg-quality"
4587520
"png-compression"
458752
"tiff-zip-compression"
393216
"tiff-compression16_nr"
32773
"tiff-compression8_nr"
7
"tiff-compression1_nr"
3
"save-devprefs-at-exit"
1
"overwrite-warning"
1
"skip-existing-numbers"
1
"save-ps-flatedecoded"
1
"save-pdf-flatedecoded"
1
"save-pnm16-as-ascii"
0
"reduce-16bit-to8bit"
0
"filename-counter-step"
1
"filename-counter-len"
4
"adf-pages-max"
1
"show-range-mode"
6
"tool-tips"
1
"show-histogram"
0
"show-gamma"
1
"show-batch-scan"
0
"show-standard-options"
0
"show-advanced-options"
1
"show-resolution-list"
0
"length-unit"
1664614
"main-window-fixed"
1
"display-icm-profile"
""
"custom-proofing-icm-profile"
""
"working-color-space-icm-profile"
""
"preview-own-cmap"
0
"preview-oversampling"
98304
"preview-gamma"
65536
"preview-gamma-red"
65536
"preview-gamma-green"
65536
"preview-gamma-blue"
65536
"disable-gimp-preview-gamma"
1
"preview-gamma-input-bits"
12
"preview-pipette-range"
3
"gamma"
44348
"gamma-red"
65536
"gamma-green"
65536
"gamma-blue"
65536
"brightness"
869672
"brightness-red"
0
"brightness-green"
0
"brightness-blue"
0
"contrast"
1366627
"contrast-red"
0
"contrast-green"
0
"contrast-blue"
0
"rgb-default"
1
"negative"
0
"auto-enhance-gamma"
1
"preselect-scan-area"
1
"auto-correct-colors"
1
"gtk-update-policy"
1
"medium-nr"
0
"paper-orientation"
0
"preset-area-definitions"
17
"printernr"
0
"printerdefinitions"
1
"printer-name"
"new printer"
"printer-command"
"lp"
"printer-copy-number-option"
"-n"
"printer-lineart-resolution"
300
"printer-grayscale-resolution"
150
"printer-color-resolution"
150
"printer-width"
13316912
"printer-height"
19306193
"printer-left-offset"
229716
"printer-bottom-offset"
229716
"printer-gamma"
65536
"printer-gamma-red"
65536
"printer-gamma-green"
65536
"printer-gamma-blue"
65536
"printer-icm-profile"
""
"printer-ps-flatedecoded"
1
"printer-embed-csa"
1
"printer-embed-crd"
0
"printer-cms-bpc"
0
"preset-area-name"
"DIN A3 port."
"preset-area-xoffset"
0
"preset-area-yoffset"
0
"preset-area-width"
19462882
"preset-area-height"
27525120
"preset-area-name"
"DIN A3 land."
"preset-area-xoffset"
0
"preset-area-yoffset"
0
"preset-area-width"
27525120
"preset-area-height"
19462882
"preset-area-name"
"DIN A4 port."
"preset-area-xoffset"
0
"preset-area-yoffset"
0
"preset-area-width"
13762560
"preset-area-height"
19462882
"preset-area-name"
"DIN A4 land."
"preset-area-xoffset"
0
"preset-area-yoffset"
0
"preset-area-width"
19462882
"preset-area-height"
13762560
"preset-area-name"
"DIN A5 port."
"preset-area-xoffset"
0
"preset-area-yoffset"
0
"preset-area-width"
9732096
"preset-area-height"
13762560
"preset-area-name"
"DIN A5 land."
"preset-area-xoffset"
0
"preset-area-yoffset"
0
"preset-area-width"
13762560
"preset-area-height"
9732096
"preset-area-name"
"13cm x 18cm"
"preset-area-xoffset"
0
"preset-area-yoffset"
0
"preset-area-width"
8519680
"preset-area-height"
11796480
"preset-area-name"
"18cm x 13cm"
"preset-area-xoffset"
0
"preset-area-yoffset"
0
"preset-area-width"
11796480
"preset-area-height"
8519680
"preset-area-name"
"10cm x 15cm"
"preset-area-xoffset"
0
"preset-area-yoffset"
0
"preset-area-width"
6553600
"preset-area-height"
9830400
"preset-area-name"
"15cm x 10cm"
"preset-area-xoffset"
0
"preset-area-yoffset"
0
"preset-area-width"
9830400
"preset-area-height"
6553600
"preset-area-name"
"9cm x 13cm"
"preset-area-xoffset"
0
"preset-area-yoffset"
0
"preset-area-width"
5898240
"preset-area-height"
8519680
"preset-area-name"
"13cm x 9cm"
"preset-area-xoffset"
0
"preset-area-yoffset"
0
"preset-area-width"
8519680
"preset-area-height"
5898240
"preset-area-name"
"legal port."
"preset-area-xoffset"
0
"preset-area-yoffset"
0
"preset-area-width"
14149222
"preset-area-height"
23304602
"preset-area-name"
"legal land."
"preset-area-xoffset"
0
"preset-area-yoffset"
0
"preset-area-width"
23304602
"preset-area-height"
14149222
"preset-area-name"
"letter port."
"preset-area-xoffset"
0
"preset-area-yoffset"
0
"preset-area-width"
14149222
"preset-area-height"
18310758
"preset-area-name"
"letter land."
"preset-area-xoffset"
0
"preset-area-yoffset"
0
"preset-area-width"
18310758
"preset-area-height"
14149222

.mdf

:

"MEDIUM_DEFINITIONS"
11
"medium-name"
"Full color range"
"medium-shadow-gray"
0
"medium-shadow-red"
0
"medium-shadow-green"
0
"medium-shadow-blue"
0
"medium-highlight-gray"
6553600
"medium-highlight-red"
6553600
"medium-highlight-green"
6553600
"medium-highlight-blue"
6553600
"medium-gamma-gray"
65536
"medium-gamma-red"
65536
"medium-gamma-green"
65536
"medium-gamma-blue"
65536
"medium-negative"
0
"medium-name"
"Slide"
"medium-shadow-gray"
0
"medium-shadow-red"
0
"medium-shadow-green"
0
"medium-shadow-blue"
0
"medium-highlight-gray"
2621440
"medium-highlight-red"
2621440
"medium-highlight-green"
2621440
"medium-highlight-blue"
2621440
"medium-gamma-gray"
65536
"medium-gamma-red"
65536
"medium-gamma-green"
65536
"medium-gamma-blue"
65536
"medium-negative"
0
"medium-name"
"Standard negative"
"medium-shadow-gray"
0
"medium-shadow-red"
458752
"medium-shadow-green"
65536
"medium-shadow-blue"
0
"medium-highlight-gray"
4325376
"medium-highlight-red"
4325376
"medium-highlight-green"
2162688
"medium-highlight-blue"
1048576
"medium-gamma-gray"
65536
"medium-gamma-red"
65536
"medium-gamma-green"
65536
"medium-gamma-blue"
65536
"medium-negative"
1
"medium-name"
"Agfa negative"
"medium-shadow-gray"
0
"medium-shadow-red"
393216
"medium-shadow-green"
131072
"medium-shadow-blue"
0
"medium-highlight-gray"
2031616
"medium-highlight-red"
3997696
"medium-highlight-green"
1572864
"medium-highlight-blue"
851968
"medium-gamma-gray"
65536
"medium-gamma-red"
65536
"medium-gamma-green"
65536
"medium-gamma-blue"
65536
"medium-negative"
1
"medium-name"
"Agfa negative XRG 200-4"
"medium-shadow-gray"
0
"medium-shadow-red"
786432
"medium-shadow-green"
131072
"medium-shadow-blue"
104857
"medium-highlight-gray"
2293760
"medium-highlight-red"
4030464
"medium-highlight-green"
1409024
"medium-highlight-blue"
950272
"medium-gamma-gray"
65536
"medium-gamma-red"
52428
"medium-gamma-green"
43909
"medium-gamma-blue"
39321
"medium-negative"
1
"medium-name"
"Agfa negative HDC 100"
"medium-shadow-gray"
0
"medium-shadow-red"
229376
"medium-shadow-green"
65536
"medium-shadow-blue"
32768
"medium-highlight-gray"
1736704
"medium-highlight-red"
3506176
"medium-highlight-green"
1441792
"medium-highlight-blue"
1114112
"medium-gamma-gray"
65536
"medium-gamma-red"
51773
"medium-gamma-green"
42598
"medium-gamma-blue"
39321
"medium-negative"
1
"medium-name"
"Fuji negative"
"medium-shadow-gray"
0
"medium-shadow-red"
458752
"medium-shadow-green"
65536
"medium-shadow-blue"
0
"medium-highlight-gray"
2097152
"medium-highlight-red"
4194304
"medium-highlight-green"
2162688
"medium-highlight-blue"
1048576
"medium-gamma-gray"
65536
"medium-gamma-red"
65536
"medium-gamma-green"
65536
"medium-gamma-blue"
65536
"medium-negative"
1
"medium-name"
"Kodak negative"
"medium-shadow-gray"
0
"medium-shadow-red"
589824
"medium-shadow-green"
131072
"medium-shadow-blue"
0
"medium-highlight-gray"
1769472
"medium-highlight-red"
3538944
"medium-highlight-green"
1179648
"medium-highlight-blue"
786432
"medium-gamma-gray"
65536
"medium-gamma-red"
65536
"medium-gamma-green"
65536
"medium-gamma-blue"
65536
"medium-negative"
1
"medium-name"
"Konica negative"
"medium-shadow-gray"
0
"medium-shadow-red"
196608
"medium-shadow-green"
0
"medium-shadow-blue"
0
"medium-highlight-gray"
1638400
"medium-highlight-red"
2490368
"medium-highlight-green"
1376256
"medium-highlight-blue"
917504
"medium-gamma-gray"
65536
"medium-gamma-red"
65536
"medium-gamma-green"
65536
"medium-gamma-blue"
65536
"medium-negative"
1
"medium-name"
"Konica negative VX 100"
"medium-shadow-gray"
0
"medium-shadow-red"
131072
"medium-shadow-green"
0
"medium-shadow-blue"
0
"medium-highlight-gray"
1638400
"medium-highlight-red"
3014656
"medium-highlight-green"
1441792
"medium-highlight-blue"
884736
"medium-gamma-gray"
65536
"medium-gamma-red"
48496
"medium-gamma-green"
36700
"medium-gamma-blue"
34734
"medium-negative"
1
"medium-name"
"Rossmann negative HR 100"
"medium-shadow-gray"
0
"medium-shadow-red"
458752
"medium-shadow-green"
65536
"medium-shadow-blue"
104857
"medium-highlight-gray"
1736704
"medium-highlight-red"
3801088
"medium-highlight-green"
1671168
"medium-highlight-blue"
1245184
"medium-gamma-gray"
65536
"medium-gamma-red"
35389
"medium-gamma-green"
28180
"medium-gamma-blue"
26869
"medium-negative"
1

and

:HPColorLaserJetMFPM476dw(3DBC02).drc

:

"XSANE_DEVICE_RC"
"WSD:HP Color LaserJet MFP M476dw (3DBC02)"
"xsane-version"
"0.999"
"resolution"
75
"mode"
"Color"
"source"
"Flatbed"
"tl-x"
0
"tl-y"
0
"br-x"
13761367
"br-y"
19459342
"brightness"
0
"contrast"
0
"shadow"
0
"highlight"
6553600
"analog-gamma"
65536
"negative"
0
"xsane-main-window-x-position"
55
"xsane-main-window-y-position"
88
"xsane-main-window-width"
294
"xsane-main-window-height"
570
"xsane-project-window-x-position"
280
"xsane-project-window-y-position"
425
"xsane-standard-options-window-x-position"
414
"xsane-standard-options-window-y-position"
89
"xsane-advanced-options-window-x-position"
448
"xsane-advanced-options-window-y-position"
640
"xsane-histogram-window-x-position"
100
"xsane-histogram-window-y-position"
50
"xsane-gamma-window-x-position"
280
"xsane-gamma-window-y-position"
420
"xsane-batch-window-x-position"
480
"xsane-batch-window-y-position"
420
"xsane-preview-window-x-position"
940
"xsane-preview-window-y-position"
82
"xsane-preview-window-width"
600
"xsane-preview-window-height"
750
"xsane-gamma"
65536
"xsane-gamma-red"
65536
"xsane-gamma-green"
65536
"xsane-gamma-blue"
65536
"xsane-brightness"
0
"xsane-brightness-red"
0
"xsane-brightness-green"
0
"xsane-brightness-blue"
0
"xsane-contrast"
0
"xsane-contrast-red"
0
"xsane-contrast-green"
0
"xsane-contrast-blue"
0
"xsane-lineart-mode"
0
"xsane-threshold"
3276800
"xsane-threshold-min"
0
"xsane-threshold-max"
6553600
"xsane-threshold-multiplier"
65536
"xsane-threshold-offset"
0
"xsane-grayscale-scanmode"
""
"xsane-enhancement-rgb-default"
1
"xsane-negative"
0
"xsane-show-preview"
1
"xsane-enable-color-management"
0
"xsane-scanner-default-color-icm-profile"
""
"xsane-scanner-default-gray-icm-profile"
""

This third file has a number of settings that control the position and size of windows. For example I can move and resize the preview window by changing

-preview-window-x-position

,

-preview-window-y-position

,

-preview-window-width

and

-preview-window-height

. But the advanced options window only has position data and when I added line

"xsane-advanced-options-window-width"
250

it was ignored and removed from the file when I quit xsane. I still don't have an answer but I feel I have made some progress.

From the command line, what is the best way to locate the first window where pcmanfm is running, and then give that window focus? pcmanfm does not showcase it's application name on the title bar of the window in which it is running, so you can't focus it using wmctrl -a pcmanfm (which works for me in other applications that do indeed showcase their application's name in the window title bar). This is just one example, but what I'm really looking for is a better method of locating windows that are running a particular command, and then giving that window focus. The title bar method I've been using just isn't always reliable.

I am trying to get the list off open windows and save them to a file. The problem I have is that 'String' and 'List' are not compatible. I have tried various methods of joining the information together but with limited success. The included code has been cobbled together from the internet.

=' '.join([str(item) for item in line1])

Is the item that compiles and runs, when my program runs but it produces a single file with '0' in it, It should be like this sample output,

-1 991    1920 0    1920 1080 Main Desktop — Plasma
0x01800011 -1 991    0    0    1920 1080 Main Desktop — Plasma
0x01800019 -1 991    1920 1056 1920 24   Main Plasma
0x00400003  0 1156   880  154  800  600  Main NordPass Password Manager
0x03c0002c  0 1432   2101 56   1529 731  Main List open windows and save to file(wmctrl) for latter recall - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange — Mozilla Firefox
0x03a00003  0 3449   1959 622  1609 724  Main mwin1 - Scripts - Visual Studio Code
0x04c00006  0 4757   1073 608  760  437  Main Scripts — Dolphin
0x03c000a1  0 1432   2115 177  1529 731  Main 1 hidden tab - Workona — Mozilla Firefox
0x04e00007  0 6441   962  55   916  453  Main ~

I wish to write to a file and later read that information back.

from asyncio import create_subprocess_shell
from distutils.file_util import write_file
from fileinput import FileInput
import os
from re import X
import subprocess

def getwin():
    line1=[os.system('wmctrl -p -G -l')]
    string1=' '.join([str(item) for item in line1])
    with open(r'winmove', 'w') as fp:
        for i in line1 :
            fp.write(string1) #line1
        fp.close

if __name__ == '__main__':

    getwin()

**I think the line "**

line1=[os.system('wmctrl -p -G -l')]

" **is not functioning right the items-/-are written to the console, however, if one adds lines to print the list to console** print line1 then the line in the cli is 0.

I'm running Ubuntu 20.04.5 LTS with the XFCE4 window manager. I'm looking for a way for a shell script to be fired off when a particular X Window has been closed. I know that I can create a program to run wmctrl or xdotool over and over again in a loop that checks for the existence of the X Window in question, and then executes a shell script when the presence of that X Window is no longer detected. But I'm wondering whether there might be some sort of event-based utility that I can run which can do some or all of this for me, instead of my having to write this busy-wait-based program. Any suggestions? Thank you in advance.

I want to retrieve the X id of GUI programs I launch in background, in order to work on their windows properties. I've been so far using this workaround: myprogram & sleep 1 winID=$(wmctrl -l | awk '/./{line=$0} END{print $1;}') But this relies on three heavy assumptions: - the program will take less than 1 second to get its window opened (not to mention than 1 second can be far too long) - the window will be appened at the end of the wmctrl list - no other window will be opened meanwhile Is there any signal myprogram will send once it has opened a window? How can I intercept it?

On a fresh Arch Linux install running ctwm, if I do a simple wmctrl -l, I get Cannot get client list properties. (_NET_CLIENT_LIST or _WIN_CLIENT_LIST) I've done plenty of minimal Arch Linux installs, all basically the same, and I've never had this issue. The output is pretty vague to troubleshoot what is missing/wrong.

As a first project for learning awk , I wanted to reformat the output of the wmctrl command, which can be installed like this in Debian 11: sudo apt install wmctrl To list information about all the windows I have open, I run this command: wmctrl -lpG Sample Output: 0x0120002b 4 7 2 157 3836 2068 my-pc window - AWK - Dealing with spaces in the last column of output from wmctrl - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange — Firefox I never can remember what each column means, in the command above, so I wanted to break it apart into name/value pairs, using AWK: wmctrl -lpG | awk '{print "----------------------\nWindow ID: " $1 "\nDesktop Number: " $2 "\nProcess ID: " $3 "\nx-offset: " $4 "\ny-offset: " $5 "\nwidth: " $6 "\nheight: " $7 "\nMachine Name: " $8 "\nWindow Title: " $9}' Sample Output: ---------------------- Window ID: 0x0120002b Desktop Number: 4 Process ID: 7 x-offset: 2 y-offset: 134 width: 3836 height: 2068 Machine Name: my-pc Window Title: window Desired Output: ---------------------- Window ID: 0x0120002b Desktop Number: 4 Process ID: 7 x-offset: 2 y-offset: 134 width: 3836 height: 2068 Machine Name: my-pc Window Title: window - AWK - Dealing with spaces in the last column of output from wmctrl - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange — Firefox However, I'm having trouble figuring out how to handle the **9th Column** outputted by wmctrl -lpG (because the 9th column contains spaces). Notice that I'm only getting the **first word** of the window title **instead of the whole window title**. Is there an easy way to remedy this issue?

You can list the process ID of each widow with this command: wmctrl -lp Does there exist a command that shows the running command of each window (kind of like htop has a column for "Command")? If not, how could you combine commands to ultimately achieve this?

I have a startup application that has no option to "start minimized" or "close to system tray" etc. and therefore would like to use a startup script that will first start the application and then minimize its window. Actually, I already have a startup script that closes the window of an application which luckily has a sort of "close to system tray" option: wmctrl -ic $(wmctrl -l | grep "AppWindowTitle" | cut -d ' ' -f 1) I should ideally be able to minimize the window with a command like this: wmctrl -ir $(wmctrl -l | grep "AppWindowTitle" | cut -d ' ' -f 1) -b toggle,minimized But there is not such option available in wmctrl. Options for the first argument are: add, remove, toggle. And options for the second argument are: modal, sticky, shaded, skip_taskbar, skip_pager, hidden, fullscreen, above, below, maximized_vert, maximized_horz These seem to work and I would expect the argument hidden could be the one I need but it's not hiding the window. I wonder if there's some other way of achieving this...