/krohnkite

A dynamic tiling extension for KWin

Primary LanguageTypeScriptMIT LicenseMIT

Kröhnkite

AUR-git

A dynamic tiling extension for KWin.

Kröhnkite is mainly inspired by dwm from suckless folks, and aims to provide rock solid stability while fully integrating into KWin.

The name of the script is from mineral Kröhnkite; it starts with K and looks cool.

screenshot

Features

  • DWM-like window tiling
    • Dynamically tile windows, rather than manually placing each.
    • Floating windows
  • Fully integrates into KWin features, including:
    • Multi-screen
    • Activities & Virtual desktop
    • Basic window management (minimize, fullscreen, switching, etc)
  • Multiple Layout Support
    • Tiling layout
    • Monocle layout
    • Desktop-friendly layouts (Spread, Stair)

Development Requirement

  • Typescript (tested w/ 3.1.x)
  • GNU Make
  • p7zip (7z)

Installation

You can install Kröhnkite in multiple ways.

Using .kwinscript package file

You can download krohnkite-x.x.kwinscript file, and install it through System Settings.

  1. Download the kwinscript file
  2. Open System Settings > Window Management > KWin Scripts
  3. Press Import KWin script... on the top-right corner
  4. Select the downloaded file

Alternatively, through command-line:

plasmapkg2 -t kwinscript -i krohnkite.kwinscript # installing new script
plasmapkg2 -t kwinscript -u krohnkite.kwinscript # upgrading existing script

To uninstall the package:

plasmapkg2 -t kwinscript -r krohnkite

Installing from Git repository

The simplest method would be:

make install
make uninstall # to uninstall the script

This will automatically build and install kwinscript package.

You can also manually build package file using:

make package

The generated package file can be imported from "KWin Script" dialog.

Simply Trying Out

Krohnkite can be temporarily loaded without installing the script:

make run
make stop

Note that Krohnkite can destroy itself completely once it is disabled, so no restart is required to deactivated it.

Enabling User-Configuration

It is reported that a manual step is required to enable user configuration of KWin scripts. This is a limitation of KWin scripting.

To enable configuration, you must perform the following in command-line:

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/kservices5/
ln -s ~/.local/share/kwin/scripts/krohnkite/metadata.desktop ~/.local/share/kservices5/krohnkite.desktop

A configuration button will appear in KWin Scripts in System Settings.

config button shown

To make changes effective, the script must be reactivate:

  1. On KWin Scripts dialog, untick Krohnkite
  2. Apply
  3. tick Krohnkite
  4. Apply

Default Key Bindings

Key Action
Meta + J Focus Down/Next
Meta + K Focus Up/Previous
Meta + H Left
Meta + L Right
Meta + Shift + J Move Down/Next
Meta + Shift + K Move Up/Previous
Meta + Shift + H Move Left
Meta + Shift + L Move Right
Meta + I Increase
Meta + D Decrease
Meta + F Toggle Floating
Meta + \ Cycle Layout
Meta + Return Set as Master
Meta + T Use Tile Layout
Meta + M Use Monocle Layout
unbound Use Spread Layout
unbound Use Stair Layout

Tips

Setting Up for Multi-Screen

Krohnkite supports multi-screen setup, but KWin has to be configured to unlock the full potential of the script.

  1. Enable Separate Screen Focus under Window Management > Window Behavior > Multiscreen Behaviour
  2. Bind keys for global shortcut Switch to Next/Previous Screen (Recommend: Meta + , / Meta + .)
  3. Bind keys for global shortcut Window to Next/Previous Screen (Recommend: Meta + < / Meta + >)

Note: Separate Screen Focus appears only when multiple monitors are present.

Removing Title Bars

Breeze window decoration can be configured to completely remove title bars from all windows:

  1. System Setting > Application Style > Window Decorations
  2. Click Configure Breeze inside the decoration preview.
  3. Window-Specific Overrides tab > Add button
  4. Enter the followings, and press Ok:
    • Regular expression to match: .*
    • Tick Hide window title bar

Changing Border Colors

Changing the border color makes it easier to identify current window. This is convinient if title bars are removed.

  1. Open ~/.config/kdeglobals with your favorite editor

  2. Scroll down and find [WM] section

  3. Append the followings to the section:

    • frame=61,174,233: set the border color of active window to RGB(61,174,233)
    • inactiveFrame=239,240,241: set the border color of inactive window to RGB(239,240,241)

    Here's a nice 2-liner that'll do it for you:

     kwriteconfig5 --file ~/.config/kdeglobals --group WM --key frame 61,174,233
 kwriteconfig5 --file ~/.config/kdeglobals --group WM --key inactiveFrame  239,240,241

  4. (Optionally) draw borders on maximized windows. Sometimes windows that are not in "monocle mode" as far as Krohkite is concerned, are maximized as far as KDE is concerned, and KDE does not draw borders on maximized windows by default. To change this,select System Setting > Window Decorations > Edit Breeze Decorations (tiny pencil icon) > General > Allow resizing maximized windows from window edges

  5. You must restart your session to see changes. (i.e. re-login, reboot)

(Note: the RGB values presented here are for the default Breeze theme)

Script the Above and More

The following are some utility functions for those who prefer doing the above steps from a shell script, and maybe want to add some tweaks to their configuration pragmatically.

hex_rgb() {
    local css
    local printstring
    local hex="$(tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]' <<< ${1#\#})"
    # Convert ABC to AABBCC
    if [[ $hex =~ ^[A-F0-9]{3}$ ]]; then
        hex=$(sed -e 's/\(.\)/\1\1/g' <<< $hex)
    fi
    # If the first param is a valid hex string, convert to rgb
    if [[ $hex =~ ^[A-F0-9]{6}$ ]]; then
        # If second param exists and is a float between 0 and 1, output rgba
        if [[ -n $2 && $2 =~ ^(0?\.[0-9]+|1(\.0)?)$ ]]; then
            [[ $css ]] && printstring="rgba(%d,%d,%d,%s)" || printstring="%d,%d,%d,%s"
            printf $printstring  0x${hex:0:2} 0x${hex:2:2} 0x${hex:4:2} $2
        else
            [[ $css ]] && printstring="rgb(%d,%d,%d)" || printstring="%d,%d,%d"
            printf $printstring 0x${hex:0:2} 0x${hex:2:2} 0x${hex:4:2}
        fi
        # If it's not valid hex, return the original string
    else
        echo -n $@
    fi
}

# Function to create global kde shortcuts
bind () {
    local group cmd keys
    group=$1 && shift 1
    for cmd keys in $@; do
        kwriteconfig5 --file ~/.config/kglobalshortcutsrc \
                      --group "$group" \
                      --key "$cmd" \
                      "$keys"
    done
}

# Convenience wrapper around kwriteconfig5
configure () {
    local file type
    file=$1 && shift 1
    for group key value in $@; do
        # TODO: handle `path` type should you ever need it
        [[ $value = true || $value = false ]] && type=bool || type=string
        kwriteconfig5 --file $file --group $group --key $key --type $type $value
    done
}

# The Krohnkite tweaks mentioned above
configure ~/.config/kwinrc \
          Plugins krohnkiteEnabled true \ # turn krohnkite on
          org.kde.kdecoration2 library org.kde.breeze \ # Use breeze borders

configure ~/.config/breezerc \
          Windeco DrawBorderOnMaximizedWindows true \ # Always draw borders
          'Windeco Exception 0' BorderSize 3 \ # Normal Border size
          'Windeco Exception 0' Enabled true \
          'Windeco Exception 0' ExceptionPattern '.*' \
          'Windeco Exception 0' ExceptionType 0 \
          'Windeco Exception 0' HideTitleBar true \ # Hide title bars everywhere
          'Windeco Exception 0' Mask 16

# Pick border colors
ACTIVE_BCOLOR='#03a9f4'
INACTIVE_BCOLOR='#263238'

configure ~/.config/kdeglobals \
          WM frame $(hex_rgb $ACTIVE_BCOLOR) \
          WM inactiveFrame $(hex_rgb $INACTIVE_BCOLOR) \

# Create some handy bindings
bind kwin \
     'Window Close' 'Meta+Q,Alt+F4,' \
     'Krohnkite: Three Column Layout' 'Meta+C,none,'

# Make your favorite programs more reachable
bind emacsclient.desktop _launch 'Meta+E,none,Launch Emacsclient'
bind firefox.desktop _launch 'Meta+W,none,Launch Firefox'


# Deal with your input preferences
configure ~/.config/kxkbrc Layout Options 'caps:swapescape'
configure ~/.config/touchpadxlibinputrc \
          'DELL0808:00 06CB:7E92 Touchpad' tapToClick true

Useful Development Resources