Window Management Script

A Linux utility script for managing window positions and sizes on your desktop. This script allows you to quickly position windows in predefined layouts using keyboard shortcuts or direct commands.

Features

• Position windows in various preset layouts (center, left, right)
• Support for different window widths (25%, 50%, 100%)
• Automatically accounts for taskbar/panel height
• Shows notifications when windows are repositioned

Dependencies

The script requires the following tools to be installed:

• xdpyinfo - for getting screen dimensions
• xdotool - for window manipulation
• wmctrl - for window control
• notify-send - for desktop notifications

Installing Dependencies

On Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt install x11-utils xdotool wmctrl libnotify-bin

On Fedora:

sudo dnf install xorg-x11-utils xdotool wmctrl libnotify

On Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S xorg-xdpyinfo xdotool wmctrl libnotify

Usage

1. Make the script executable:

chmod +x windowmanagement.sh

2. Run the script with one of the following commands:

./windowmanagement.sh [command]

Available commands:

• center - Full width window
• center50 - 50% width window in center
• left25 - 25% width window on left side
• right25 - 25% width window on right side
• left50 - 50% width window on left side
• right50 - 50% width window on right side
• centerleft25 - 25% width window on left side of center
• centerright25 - 25% width window on right side of center

Functions

get_usable_height

Returns the available vertical screen space by calculating:

screen_height - panel_height

This ensures windows are sized correctly accounting for the taskbar/panel height.

Integration

You can integrate this script with your desktop environment's keyboard shortcuts system. For example, you could bind:

• Super + Left to ./windowmanagement.sh left50
• Super + Right to ./windowmanagement.sh right50
• Super + Up to ./windowmanagement.sh center

Notes

• The script automatically detects your screen dimensions and panel height
• Windows are positioned slightly below the top of the screen (0.1 pixels) to prevent issues with some desktop environments
• The script will show a notification when a window is repositioned
• If any required dependencies are missing, the script will notify you

Author

R. Branten (2022)