- xmonad - Haskell.org

darcs patch: Add Stoppable layout for power saving (and 1 more)
by Anton Vorontsov 01 Sep '14

01 Sep '14

In this version I addressed further comments by Paul Fertser, plus implemented the remote/local clients identification scheme that I was talking about: it is in XMonad.Util.RemoteWindows module with documentation and all. I split the work into two logical changes, for easier review and so that the first patch won't depend on the second. Thanks, Anton 2 patches for repository http://code.haskell.org/XMonadContrib: Mon Sep 1 00:21:41 PDT 2014 Anton Vorontsov <anton(a)enomsg.org> * Add Stoppable layout for power saving This module implements a special kind of layout modifier, which when applied to a layout, causes xmonad to stop all non-visible processes. In a way, this is a sledge-hammer for applications that drain power. For example, given a web browser on a stoppable workspace, once the workspace is hidden the web browser will be stopped. Note that the stopped application won't be able to communicate with X11 clipboard. For this, the module actually stops applications after a certain delay, giving a chance for a user to complete copy-paste sequence. By default, the delay equals to 15 seconds, it is configurable via 'Stoppable' constructor. The stoppable modifier prepends a mark (by default equals to "Stoppable") to the layout description (alternatively, you can choose your own mark and use it with 'Stoppable' constructor). The stoppable layout (identified by a mark) spans to multiple workspaces, letting you to create groups of stoppable workspaces that only stop processes when none of the workspaces are visible, and conversely, unfreezing all processes even if one of the stoppable workspaces are visible. To stop the process we use signals, which works for most cases. For processes that tinker with signal handling (debuggers), another (Linux-centric) approach may be used. See https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/cgroups/freezer-subsystem.txt Mon Sep 1 00:21:58 PDT 2014 Anton Vorontsov <anton(a)enomsg.org> * Implement proper handling of dynamically changing hostname The module implements a proper way of finding out whether the window is remote or local. Just checking for a hostname and WM_CLIENT_MACHINE being equal is often not enough because the hostname is a changing subject (without any established notification mechanisms), and thus WM_CLIENT_MACHINE and the hostname can diverge even for a local window. This module solves the problem. As soon as there is a new window created, we check the hostname and WM_CLIENT_MACHINE, and then we cache the result into the XMONAD_REMOTE property. Notice that XMonad itself does not know anything about hostnames, nor does it have any dependency on Network.* modules. For this module it is not a problem: you can provide a mean to get the hostname through your config file (see usage). Or, if you don't like the hassle of handling dynamic hostnames (suppose your hostname never changes), it is also fine: this module will fallback to using environment variables.

1 0

Re: [xmonad] darcs patch: Add Stoppable layout for power saving
by Paul Fertser 31 Aug '14

31 Aug '14

Hi, On Fri, Aug 29, 2014 at 06:41:14PM -0700, Anton Vorontsov wrote: > +signalLocalWindow :: Signal -> Window -> X () > +signalLocalWindow s w = do > + host <- io $ getEnvDefault "HOSTNAME" "" > + hasProperty (Machine host) w >>= flip when (signalWindow s w) HOSTNAME is a bash-specific variable and it's not exported by default, so neither XMonad nor ghci sees it (even though I actually use bash on this machine): Prelude System.Posix.Env> getEnv "HOSTNAME" Nothing As the result, this version doesn't work as expected. I've noticed another unpleasant side-effect of this: urxvtd is a single process that can have many windows (each spawned with urxvtc). So if the stoppable workspace has a urxvtd window, all the other terminal windows get frozen too. Should an optional filtering facility be added? On an unrelated note, where do you get opportunities to apply your Haskell skills? -- Be free, use free (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html) software! mailto:fercerpav@gmail.com

3 4

darcs patch: Add Stoppable layout for power saving
by Anton Vorontsov 30 Aug '14

30 Aug '14

Changes: - Per Brandon Allbery's suggestion the module now checks WM_CLIENT_MACHINE, and thus no longer tries to stop remote clients. - Per Paul Fertser's suggestion improved documentation, and also implemented a delay to make X11 clipboard limitations less noticeable. 1 patch for repository http://code.haskell.org/XMonadContrib: Fri Aug 29 18:03:14 PDT 2014 Anton Vorontsov <anton(a)enomsg.org> * Add Stoppable layout for power saving This module implements a special kind of layout modifier, which when applied to a layout, causes xmonad to stop all non-visible processes. In a way, this is a sledge-hammer for applications that drain power. For example, given a web browser on a stoppable workspace, once the workspace is hidden the web browser will be stopped. Note that the stopped application won't be able to communicate with X11 clipboard. For this, the module actually stops applications after a certain delay, giving a chance for a user to complete copy-paste sequence. By default, the delay equals to 15 seconds, it is configurable via 'Stoppable' constructor. The stoppable modifier prepends a mark (by default equals to \"Stoppable\") to the layout description (alternatively, you can choose your own mark and use it with 'Stoppable' constructor). The stoppable layout (identified by a mark) spans to multiple workspaces, letting you to create groups of stoppable workspaces that only stop processes when none of the workspaces are visible, and conversely, unfreezing all processes even if one of the stoppable workspaces are visible. To stop the process we use signals, which works for most cases. For processes that tinker with signal handling (debuggers), another (Linux-centric) approach may be used. See https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/cgroups/freezer-subsystem.txt

1 0

Re: [xmonad] darcs patch: Add Stoppable layout for power saving
by Paul Fertser 29 Aug '14

29 Aug '14

On Thu, Aug 28, 2014 at 01:12:31PM -0700, Anton Vorontsov wrote: > On Thu, Aug 28, 2014 at 11:00:28PM +0400, Paul Fertser wrote: > > Handy for the shit-sites that make firefox spin violently even when > > it's not visible! > > Exactly. :) Extends laptop on-battery time drastically. This has an unpleasant side-effect though, I'm usually having firefox (duh, should be using emacs-w3m more but it sucks in its own ways) fullscreen and when I copy a link from it or just select some text, and switch to a different workspace, the pasting from X selection doesn't happen until I switch back to unfreeze the shit-browser. That's less annoying than wasting cpu cycles but as a known limitation should better be documented. -- Be free, use free (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html) software! mailto:fercerpav@gmail.com

2 1

Re: [xmonad] darcs patch: Add Stoppable layout for power saving
by Paul Fertser 28 Aug '14

28 Aug '14

Great idea, Anton! Handy for the shit-sites that make firefox spin violently even when it's not visible! On Thu, Aug 28, 2014 at 06:07:24PM +0000, Anton Vorontsov wrote: > +-- > main = xmonad def > +-- > { layoutHook = layoutHook def ||| stoppable (layoutHook def) } > +-- > +-- For more detailed instructions on editing the logHook see: > +-- > +-- "XMonad.Doc.Extending#The_log_hook_and_external_status_bars" Why is that you're talking about modifying the logHook when tweaking layoutHook, is this a typo? -- Be free, use free (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html) software! mailto:fercerpav@gmail.com

2 1

Re: [xmonad] darcs patch: Add Stoppable layout for power saving
by Brandon Allbery 28 Aug '14

28 Aug '14

On Thu, Aug 28, 2014 at 2:07 PM, Anton Vorontsov <anton(a)enomsg.org> wrote: > To stop the process we use signals, which works for most cases. Please check WM_CLIENT_MACHINE so you don't try to kill a process not running on the same machine xmonad is (ssh forwarding, TCP X server connections, etc.) -- brandon s allbery kf8nh sine nomine associates allbery.b(a)gmail.com ballbery(a)sinenomine.net unix, openafs, kerberos, infrastructure, xmonad http://sinenomine.net

2 1

darcs patch: Add Stoppable layout for power saving
by Anton Vorontsov 28 Aug '14

28 Aug '14

It seems that my last email got silently eaten by spam filters. It's been a whole day, so let's try it again with a different smtp... 1 patch for repository http://code.haskell.org/XMonadContrib: Wed Aug 27 15:02:19 PDT 2014 Anton Vorontsov <anton(a)enomsg.org> * Add Stoppable layout for power saving This module implements a special kind of layout modifier, which when applied to a layout, causes xmonad to stop all non-visible processes. In a way, this is a sledge-hammer for applications that drain power. For example, given a web browser on a stoppable workspace, as soon as the workspace is hidden the web browser will be stopped. The stoppable modifier prepends a mark (by default equals to "Stoppable") to the layout description (alternatively, you can choose your own mark and use it with 'Stoppable' constructor). The stoppable layout (identified by a mark) spans to multiple workspaces, letting you to create groups of stoppable workspaces that only stop processes when none of the workspaces are visible, and conversely, unfreezing all processes even if one of the stoppable workspaces are visible. To stop the process we use signals, which works for most cases. For processes that tinker with signal handling (debuggers), another (Linux-centric) approach may be used. See https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/cgroups/freezer-subsystem.txt

1 0

Per-workspace Application Instances
by Chris Bell 25 Aug '14

25 Aug '14

Hi all, I started using xmonad last week, and encountered very few problems during configuration and use. It's nearly perfect for how I work. But I've run into a bothersome issue. There are times when I need to have dozens of PDFs readily available. Since I started using xmonad, I switched to qpdfview for its tabbed interface. Whenever I open a PDF from a file manager (xfe), qpdfview is called with the --unique option, so that all new windows open as tabs in the main window. The problem is that, if I want to then open a PDF on a different workspace, I either need to create a new instance of qpdfview, or use a different PDF viewer. A minor inconvenience, to be sure. But then I realized that qpdfview has a --instance <name> option, which I imagine could be used with xmonad's workspace identifiers. So, any instance started in workspace 3 would be named 'd3', and qpdfview would be called with '--unique --instance d3'. The problem is, I don't know where to start with this. My idea was to use environment variables to identify the current workspace, but I'm not sure how to. Any suggestions/ideas are greatly appreciated! Regards, Chris

2 3

Dim unfocused windows
by Ruslan Kiianchuk 17 Aug '14

17 Aug '14

Hello. So there is XMonad.Hooks.FadeWindows <http://xmonad.org/xmonad-docs/xmonad-contrib/XMonad-Hooks-FadeWindows.html> module that allows to make unfocused windows slightly transparent. But is it possible to just dim unfocused windows without changing their opacity (the way fadeing option does this for URXVT?). Thanks. -- Sincerely, Ruslan Kiianchuk.

2 2

Bug? garbage screen when switching virtual workspaces.
by Klaas van Schelven 12 Aug '14

12 Aug '14

I suppose I should start with a rant on how XMonad sucks to get everyone's attention. However, truth is I've been enjoying xmonad for some c. 5 years now, without any problems whatsoever. However: I've recently upgraded my Ubuntu from 10.04 to 14.04. Xmonad appeared to work after changing the syntax of dmenu_run and recompiling. However, sometimes when switching workspaces, I end up with with some garbage window with the following properties: * slightly offset to the bottom & right from the normal location (slightly means: a couple of pixels) * the area usually contains the contents of the window that was displaying right before making the switch (but as I set, slightly offset to the right & bottom) * usually the window is killable using my standard kill-key-combo. * It appears (though I'm not sure) that google-chrome if often involved in this. One observed behavior: after killing the "ghost window" everything seemed to work fine again, except that chrome was gone. Tentative conclusion: the ghost window was in fact chrome. * My "unfloat" modifier (Mod-T) doesn't change anything When observing the above, I just run windows full screen and use various workspaces for the various windows. * A behavior that appears related: in a few cases I did not manage to get rid of the ghost window. In those cases I got some kind of mosaic inside the full-screen chrome window, comprised of ca. 5 times 5 smaller, mirrored rectangles which contained part of chrome. I'll try to make a screenshot next time this happens. I'm sorry if the problem description is somewhat vague, and/or if I'm not using the correct terminology. As I said, I've set up XMonad years ago, and haven't changed a thing since so I'm somewhat lost for the right words at times (the correct terminology is in my fingers) Any pointers to debugging this problem or requests for specifc configs/logs are welcome. regards, Klaas

1 0