This utility is for users using i3wm on their laptops who frequently jump between multiple (multi-)monitor setups.

For example single display output when you are on road, triple-monitor setup at work and two-monitor setup at home.

i3-workscreen executable provided by this package should be triggered by udev rule which will listen for specific events caused by plugging/unplugging display output cable(s) (eg.: HDMI). The utility will then enable configured display outputs and reassign existing workspaces based on your json configuration.

An example of the udev rule is provided in the root of the git repository and should be EDITED by the user and copied to /etc/udev/rules.d/98-monitor-hotplug.rules on you system.

You may also need to execute i3-workscreen in your .i3/config as the udev event is emitted way too early on a system startup before the X.org server is running.

exec --no-startup-id "i3-workscreen"

Installation:

/home/user> pip install git+https://github.com/fogine/i3-workscreen.git

# or

/home/user> pip install i3-workscreen

Dependencies:

• i3-msg
• xrandr (xlib)
• python 3.5
• logger (write messages into the system log)

Configuration:

/home/user> i3-workscreen -h

usage: i3workscreen.py [-h] [--toggle]

Required configuration file is fetched from:
`$HOME/.config/i3-workscreen/config.json`

optional arguments:
  -h, --help  show this help message and exit
  --toggle    Toggles between mirrored & extended display mode

The bellow configuration example shows setup of maximum of three monitors. In this case eDP-1 is my laptop screen and HDMI-1 & DP-1 are external monitors.

Four scenarios may happen with the configuration:

1. eDP-1 connected, HDMI-1 & DP-1 disconnected

   In this case all workspaces are assigned to the single screen

2. eDP-1 connected, HDMI-1 connected, DP-1 disconnected

   In this case workspaces 1-5 belong to eDP-1 and workspaces 6-0 belong to HDMI-1

3. eDP-1 connected, HDMI-1 disconnected, DP-1 connected

   In this case workspaces 1-5 belong to DP-1 and workspaces 6-0 belong to eDP-1

4. eDP-1 connected, HDMI-1 connected, DP-1 connected

   In this case workspaces 1-5 belong to DP-1 and workspaces 6-0 belong to HDMI-1. eDP-1 was stolen all workspaces by higher priority outputs and because disableEmptyOutputs=true, eDP-1 display output will be disabled. if the option was set to false, the output would be enabled and you could interact with the connected monitor and i3 would assign to it first empty workspace (workspace without any windows in it)

{
    "disableEmptyOutputs": true,
    "outputs": [
        {
            "name": "eDP-1",
            "workspaces": [ "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "0" ]
        },
        {
            "name": "HDMI-1",
            "xrandr": ["--above", "eDP-1"],
            "workspaces": [ "6", "7", "8", "9", "0" ]
        },
        {
            "name": "DP-1",
            "workspaces": ["1", "2", "3", "4", "5"]
        }
    ]
}