aka How to Find an X11 (X, Xorg) Window ID (WID) and Switch to That Window
OS: FreeBSD 14
$ freebsd-version
14.0-RELEASE-p6
Shell: csh
$ ps $$
PID TT STAT TIME COMMAND
69641 19 Ss 0:00.95 -csh (csh)
$ printf %s\\n "$SHELL"
/bin/csh
Method 1: Instal and Use wmctrl(1)
Tools:
wmctrl(1)- (Optional)
xwininfo(1)
Install wmctrl package.
$ sudo pkg install wmctrl
Comment of the wmctrl package.
$ pkg query %c wmctrl
Command line tool to interact with an EWMH/NetWM compatible X managers
Description of the wmctrl package.
$ pkg query '%e' wmctrl
The wmctrl program is a command line tool to interact with an
EWMH/NetWM compatible X Window Manager.
It provides command line access to almost all the features defined in
the EWMH specification. Using it, it's possible to, for example, obtain
information about the window manager, get a detailed list of desktops
and managed windows, switch and resize desktops, change number of
desktops, make windows full-screen, always-above or sticky, and
activate, close, move, resize, maximize and minimize them.
Show information about the window manager and about the environment:
$ wmctrl -m
Name: FVWM
Class: fvwm
PID: N/A
Window manager's "showing the desktop" mode: N/A
I’m looking for a window where vi(1) text editor opened a specific file.
$ ps auxw | grep -v grep | grep 'vi ed-notes'
dusko 94716 0.0 0.0 13908 3764 13 I+ 10:58 0:00.01 vi ed-notes.md
$ ps auxw | grep -v grep | grep 'vi ed-notes' | cut -w -f2
94716
Explanation for the -w option for the ps(1) utility:
From the man page for ps(1) (on FreeBSD 14) for the -w option:
Use at least 132 columns to display information, instead of the
default which is the window size if ps is associated with a
terminal. If the -w option is specified more than once, ps will
use as many columns as necessary without regard for the window size.
TIP: With the -e option, ps(1) displays the environment as well.
$ ps auxe -ww -p 94702
USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TT STAT STARTED TIME COMMAND
dusko 94702 0.0 0.1 115856 13660 v0 I 10:57 0:00.11 VENDOR=amd fvwm_editor=gvim LOGNAME=dusko LC_CTYPE=en_CA.UTF-8 LC_MESSAGES=en_CA.UTF-8 LANG=en_CA.UTF-8 PAGER=less OSTYPE=FreeBSD LC_TIME=en_CA.UTF-8 MACHTYPE=x86_64 MAIL=/var/mail/dusko GDK_USE_XFT=1 QT_XFT=1 TASKRC=/mnt/usbflashdrive/mydotfiles/.taskrc PATH=/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/home/dusko/bin:/home/dusko/.local/bin EDITOR=vi fvwm_img=/home/dusko/.fvwm/img/ HOST=fbsd1.home.arpa fvwm_theme_img=/home/dusko/.fvwm/deco/arctic GTK2_RC_FILES=/home/dusko/.gtkrc-2.0 fvwm_browser=/usr/local/bin/firefox fvwm_term=/usr/local/bin/xterm fvwm_file=rox DISPLAY=:0 fvwm_goright=3ddesk --view=goright --noautofun PWD=/home/dusko fvm_gnome_icon_theme=gnant GROUP=dusko HOSTDISPLAY=fbsd1.home.arpa:0 fvwm_theme=arctic TERM=xterm cset_wall_1=10 FVWM_MODULEDIR=/usr/local/libexec/fvwm/2.6.9 cset_wall_2=20 cset_wall_3=30 USER=dusko HOME=/home/dusko OOO_FORCE_DESKTOP=gnome cset_wall_4=40 fvwm_weather=um WINDOWPATH=9 fvwm_icon=/usr/local/share/icons/gnant SHELL=/bin/csh HOSTTYPE=FreeBSD MM_CHARSET=UTF-8 QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME=qt5ct fvwm_goleft=3ddesk --view=goleft --noautofun LC_ALL= CHEAT_CONFIG_PATH=/mnt/usbflashdrive/mydotfiles/cheat/conf.yml fvwm_calc=/usr/local/bin/xcalc FVWM_USERDIR=/home/dusko/.fvwm FVWM_DATADIR=/usr/local/share/fvwm fvwm_dock_x=730 fvwm_script=/home/dusko/.fvwm/script/ fvwm_wallpaper_dir=/home/dusko/.fvwm/img/wallpaper BLOCKSIZE=K SHLVL=1 fvwm_mail=/usr/local/bin/thunderbird /usr/local/bin/xterm
$ ps auxwwl -p 94716
USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TT STAT STARTED TIME COMMAND UID PPID C PRI NI MWCHAN
dusko 94716 0.0 0.0 13908 3368 13 I+ 10:58 0:00.01 vi ed-notes.md 1001 94704 2 24 0 ttyin
Explanation for the -l option for the ps(1) utility:
From the man page for ps(1) (on FreeBSD 14) for the -d option:
-l Display information associated with the following keywords: uid, pid,
ppid, cpu, pri, nice, vsz, rss, mwchan, state, tt, time, and command.
$ ps auxwwl -p 94716 | sed -n 2p
dusko 94716 0.0 0.0 13908 3368 13 I+ 10:58 0:00.01 vi ed-notes.md 1001 94704 2 24 0 ttyin
So, the PPID (parent process ID) of the process ID (PID) 94716 is 94704.
To display the PPID as the last column of the ps(1) output, you can use the -o option.
$ ps auxww -o ppid -p 94716
USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TT STAT STARTED TIME COMMAND PPID
dusko 94716 0.0 0.0 13908 3368 13 I+ 10:58 0:00.01 vi ed-notes.md 94704
To obtain the value of the last field in the output, you can use awk(1)’s variable $NF.
$ ps auxww -o ppid -p 94716 | awk '{print NF}'
12
13
$ ps auxww -o ppid -p 94716 | sed -n 1p | cut -w -f12
PPID
$ ps auxww -o ppid -p 94716 | sed -n 2p | cut -w -f13
94704
NOTE: For continuing with going up the process tree, refer to Footnote 1 [1].
You are interested in displaying a part of the tree with the process that started the vi(1) text editor:
$ ps auxwd | grep -v grep | grep -B2 94716
dusko 94702 0.0 0.1 115856 11696 v0 I 10:57 0:00.11 | |-- /usr/local/bin/xterm
dusko 94704 0.0 0.0 107160 8 13 IWs - 0:00.00 | | `-- -csh (csh)
dusko 94716 0.0 0.0 13908 3368 13 I+ 10:58 0:00.01 | | `-- vi ed-notes.md
$ ps auxwd | grep -v grep | grep -B2 94716 | head -1 | cut -w -f2
94702
Explanation for the -d option for the ps(1) utility:
From the man page for ps(1) (on FreeBSD 14) for the -d option:
Arrange processes into descendancy order and prefix each command
with indentation text showing sibling and parent/child
relationships as a tree.
NOTE: The -d option is a non-standard FreeBSD extension; that is, it’s specific to BSD (BSD syntax).
From the man page for ps(1) on FreeBSD 14:
STANDARDS
For historical reasons, the ps utility under FreeBSD supports a different
set of options from what is described by IEEE Std 1003.2 ("POSIX.2"), and
what is supported on non-BSD operating systems.
For example, on Debian Linux, running ps auxwd generates this error: error: unsupported option (BSD syntax).
The releavant part of the whole process tree:
- Terminal emulator (xterm), with PID 94702
- Child: Shell (C shell, a.k.a. csh), with PID 94704
- Child: Text editor (vi), with PID 94716
- Child: Shell (C shell, a.k.a. csh), with PID 94704
From wmctrl --help:
-l List windows managed by the window manager.
-p Include PIDs in the window list. Very few X applications support this feature.
From the man page for wmctrl(1):
-p Include PIDs in the window list printed by the -l action. Prints
a PID of '0' if the application owning the window does not
support it.`
$ wmctrl -lp | grep 94702
0x0500000c 8 94702 fbsd1.home.arpa xterm
$ wmctrl -lp | grep 94702 | cut -w -f1
0x0500000c
Remove the prefix 0x because xwininfo(1) doesn’t do zero padding [2].
$ wmctrl -lp | grep 94702 | cut -w -f1 | colrm 1 3
500000c
$ xwininfo -root -tree | grep -n 500000c
546: 0x500000c "xterm": ("xterm" "XTerm") 484x316+0+0 +301+886
$ xwininfo -root -tree | grep -A10 -B3 500000c
9 children:
0xa027aa (has no name): () 484x316+1+1 +301+886
1 child:
0x500000c "xterm": ("xterm" "XTerm") 484x316+0+0 +301+886
1 child:
0x5000018 (has no name): () 484x316+0+0 +301+886
0xa027ab (has no name): () 29x29+0+0 +300+885
0xa027ad (has no name): () 29x29+457+0 +757+885
0xa027af (has no name): () 29x29+0+289 +300+1174
0xa027b1 (has no name): () 29x29+457+289 +757+1174
0xa027ac (has no name): () 428x1+29+0 +329+885
0xa027ae (has no name): () 1x260+485+29 +785+914
0xa027b0 (has no name): () 428x1+29+317 +329+1202
0xa027b2 (has no name): () 1x260+0+29 +300+914
Back to previous wmctrl(1) command:
$ wmctrl -lp | grep 94702
0x0500000c 8 94702 fbsd1.home.arpa xterm
Activate the Window with wmctrl(1)
Activate the window by switching to its desktop and by raising it.
$ wmctrl -i -a 0x0500000c
Explanation:
From wmctrl --help:
-a <WIN> Activate the window by switching to its desktop and raising it.
-i Interpret <WIN> as a numerical window ID.
Move the window to the current desktop and activate it.
$ wmctrl -i -R 0x0500000c
Explanation:
From wmctrl --help:
-R <WIN> Move the window to the current desktop and activate it.
Move the window to the specified desktop.
NOTE: To list all desktops managed by the window manager, use the -d option.
$ wmctrl -d
0 * DG: 2560x1440 VP: 0,0 WA: 0,0 2560x1440 Main
1 - DG: 2560x1440 VP: 0,0 WA: 0,0 2560x1440 Email
2 - DG: 2560x1440 VP: 0,0 WA: 0,0 2560x1440 Editor
3 - DG: 2560x1440 VP: 0,0 WA: 0,0 2560x1440 passxc
4 - DG: 2560x1440 VP: 0,0 WA: 0,0 2560x1440 mutt
5 - DG: 2560x1440 VP: 0,0 WA: 0,0 2560x1440 Desk 6
6 - DG: 2560x1440 VP: 0,0 WA: 0,0 2560x1440 Desk 7
7 - DG: 2560x1440 VP: 0,0 WA: 0,0 2560x1440 Desk 8
8 - DG: 2560x1440 VP: 0,0 WA: 0,0 2560x1440 net
For example, move the window to desktop 8:
$ wmctrl -t8 -i -r 0x0500000c
Or:
$ wmctrl -i -t8 -r 0x0500000c
Explanation:
From wmctrl --help:
-r <WIN> -t <DESK> Move the window to the specified desktop
Method 2: Instal and Use xdotool(1)
Tools:
xdotool(1)
Comment of the xdotool package (queried from from remote repositories).
$ pkg rquery %c xdotool
Programmatically simulate keyboard input or mouse activity
Description of the xdotool package (queried from from remote repositories).
$ pkg rquery %e xdotool
Programatically (or manually) simulate keyboard input or mouse activity
using X11's XTEST extension.
Home page of the xdotool package (queried from from remote repositories).
$ pkg rquery %w xdotool
https://www.semicomplete.com/projects/xdotool/
Install xdotool package.
$ sudo pkg install xdotool
$ ps auxw | grep -v grep | grep 'vi testfile.md'
dusko 8352 0.0 0.0 13908 3476 13 S+ 16:59 0:00.01 vi testfile.md
$ ps auxwd | grep -v grep | grep -B2 'vi testfile.md'
dusko 8328 0.0 0.1 109712 12200 v0 S 16:58 0:00.11 | |-- /usr/local/bin/xterm
dusko 8330 0.0 0.6 107160 95008 13 Is 16:58 0:00.66 | | `-- -csh (csh)
dusko 8352 0.0 0.0 13908 3476 13 I+ 16:59 0:00.01 | | `-- vi testfile.md
$ ps auxwd | grep -v grep | grep -B2 'vi testfile.md' | head -1 | cut -w -f2
8328
$ xdotool search --all --pid 8328
83886092
Convert from decimal to hexadecimal.
$ printf %s\\n "obase=16; ibase=10; 83886092" | bc
500000C
Or - with printf(1):
$ printf %x\\n 83886092
500000c
$ printf %X\\n 83886092
500000C
Activate the Window
Activate the window by switching to its desktop and by raising it.
$ wmctrl -i -a 0x500000c
NOTE: wmctrl(1) doesn’t care about zero padding so all of the following commands work.
$ wmctrl -t8 -i -a 0x0500000c
$ wmctrl -t8 -i -a 0x00500000c
$ wmctrl -t8 -i -a 0x0000500000c
$ wmctrl -t8 -i -a 0x000000000000000500000c
Move the window to the current desktop and activate it.
$ wmctrl -i -R 0x500000c
Move the window to the specified desktop.
For example, move the window to desktop 3:
$ wmctrl -t3 -i -r 0x500000c
Tips
Tools:
xprop(1)xlsclients(1)xdotool(1)
$ xprop -id 0x380000C _NET_WM_PID
_NET_WM_PID(CARDINAL) = 3870
$ xprop -id 0x380000C
_NET_WM_STATE(ATOM) = _NET_WM_STATE_HIDDEN
WM_STATE(WM_STATE):
window state: Iconic
icon window: 0xa03b42
_NET_FRAME_EXTENTS(CARDINAL) = 1, 1, 1, 1
_KDE_NET_WM_FRAME_STRUT(CARDINAL) = 1, 1, 1, 1
_NET_WM_ALLOWED_ACTIONS(ATOM) = _NET_WM_ACTION_CHANGE_DESKTOP, _NET_WM_ACTION_CLOSE, _NET_WM_ACTION_FULLSCREEN, _NET_WM_ACTION_MAXIMIZE_HORZ, _NET_WM_ACTION_MAXIMIZE_VERT, _NET_WM_ACTION_MINIMIZE, _NET_WM_ACTION_MOVE, _NET_WM_ACTION_RESIZE, _NET_WM_ACTION_SHADE, _NET_WM_ACTION_STICK
_NET_WM_DESKTOP(CARDINAL) = 8
WM_PROTOCOLS(ATOM): protocols WM_DELETE_WINDOW
_NET_WM_PID(CARDINAL) = 3870
WM_CLIENT_LEADER(WINDOW): window id # 0x380000c
WM_LOCALE_NAME(STRING) = "en_CA.UTF-8"
WM_CLASS(STRING) = "xterm", "XTerm"
WM_HINTS(WM_HINTS):
Client accepts input or input focus: True
Initial state is Normal State.
window id # to use for icon: 0x3800019
WM_NORMAL_HINTS(WM_SIZE_HINTS):
program specified size: 484 by 316
program specified minimum size: 10 by 17
program specified resize increment: 6 by 13
program specified base size: 4 by 4
window gravity: NorthWest
WM_CLIENT_MACHINE(STRING) = "fbsd1.home.arpa"
WM_COMMAND(STRING) = { "/usr/local/bin/xterm" }
WM_ICON_NAME(STRING) = "xterm"
WM_NAME(STRING) = "xterm"
$ xwininfo -id 0x00e0000c
xwininfo: Window id: 0xe0000c "xterm"
Absolute upper-left X: 245
Absolute upper-left Y: 1123
Relative upper-left X: 0
Relative upper-left Y: 0
Width: 484
Height: 316
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: +245+1123 -1831+1123 -1831-1 +245-1
-geometry 80x24+244-0
$ xlsclients -l | grep -n -i 0x380000C
25:Window 0x380000c:
$ xlsclients -l | sed -n 25,30p
Window 0x380000c:
Machine: fbsd1.home.arpa
Name: xterm
Icon Name: xterm
Command: /usr/local/bin/xterm
Instance/Class: xterm/XTerm
Footnotes
[1] Continuing with going up the process tree.
The PPID of the PID 94704 is 94702.
$ ps auxww -o ppid -p 94704 | awk '{print NF}'
12
13
$ ps auxww -o ppid -p 94704 | sed -n 2p | cut -w -f13
94702
The PPID of the PID 94702 is 90450.
$ ps auxww -o ppid -p 94702 | awk '{print NF}'
12
12
$ ps auxww -o ppid -p 94702 | sed -n 1p | cut -w -f12
PPID
$ ps auxww -o ppid -p 94702 | sed -n 2p | cut -w -f12
90450
The PPID of the PID 90450 is 90425.
$ ps auxww -o ppid -p 90450 | awk '{ print NF }'
12
13
$ ps auxww -o ppid -p 90450 | sed -n 2p | cut -w -f13
90425
The PPID of the PID 90425 is 90424.
$ ps auxww -o ppid -p 90425 | sed -n 2p | awk '{ print NF }'
12
$ ps auxww -o ppid -p 90425 | sed -n 2p | cut -w -f12
90424
The PPID of the PID 90424 is PID 1.
$ ps auxww -o ppid -p 90424 | sed -n 2p | awk '{print NF}'
14
$ ps auxww -o ppid -p 90424 | sed -n 2p | cut -w -f14
1
[2] wc(1) also counts the newline (a.k.a. NL, or nl, or line feed, or LF, or lf).
$ wmctrl -lp | grep 72210 | cut -w -f1 | wc -c
11
$ wmctrl -lp | grep 72210 | cut -w -f1 | wc -m
11
With the following sed command, place every character on a new line.
Note a blank line (an empty line) at the end of the output.
$ wmctrl -lp | grep 94702 | cut -w -f1 | sed 's/\n$/H/' | sed 's/\(.\)/\1\n/g'
Output:
0
x
0
5
0
0
0
0
0
c
$ wmctrl -lp | grep 94702 | cut -w -f1 | sed 's/\n$/H/' | sed 's/\(.\)/\1\n/g' | wc -l
11
$ wmctrl -lp | grep 94702 | cut -w -f1 | cat -vet
0x0500000c$
$ wmctrl -lp | grep 94702 | cut -w -f1 | vis -w
0x0500000c\012$
$ wmctrl -lp | grep 94702 | cut -w -f1 | vis -l
0x0500000c\$
Octal 012 is LF (line feed) in ASCII.
See man 7 ascii.
$ wmctrl -lp | grep 94702 | cut -w -f1 | od -ta
0000000 0 x 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 c nl
0000013
$ wmctrl -lp | grep 94702 | cut -w -f1 | od -tc
0000000 0 x 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 c \n
0000013
$ wmctrl -lp | grep 94702 | cut -w -f1 | awk '{ print length($0) }'
10
$ wmctrl -lp | grep 94702 | cut -w -f1 | awk '{ print length }'
10
Tools:
xxd(1)hexdump(1),hd(1)od(1)
References
(Retrieved on Aug 5, 2024)