Module: awful.widget.watch

Execute a command at a set interval and display its output.

Here is an example of simple temperature widget which will update each 15 seconds implemented in two different ways. The first, simpler one, will just display the return command output (so output is stripped by shell commands). In the other example sensors returns to the widget its full output and it's trimmed in the widget callback function:

-- one way to do that:
local w = awful.widget.watch('bash -c "sensors | grep temp1"', 15)

-- another way:
local w = awful.widget.watch('sensors', 15, function(widget, stdout)
    for line in stdout:gmatch("[^\r\n]+") do
        if line:match("temp1") then
            widget:set_text(line)
            return
        end
    end
end)

Example screenshot

Here is the most basic usage:

DOCHIDE --DOCGEN_IMAGE

awful.widget.watch('bash -c "echo Hello world! | grep Hello"', 15)

Class Hierarchy

Info:

  • Copyright: 2015, 2016 Benjamin Petrenko, Yauheni Kirylau
  • Originally authored by: Benjamin Petrenko,Yauheni Kirylau
    (Full contributors list available on our github project)

Constructors

awful.widget.watch (command, timeout, callback, base_widget) Create a textbox that shows the output of a command and updates it at a given time interval.

Object methods

:emit_signal (name, ...) Emit a signal. Inherited from gears.object
:connect_signal (name, func) Connect to a signal. Inherited from gears.object
:weak_connect_signal (name, func) Connect to a signal weakly. Inherited from gears.object
:add_button (button) Add a new awful.button to this widget. Inherited from wibox.widget.base
:emit_signal_recursive (signal_name, ...) Emit a signal and ensure all parent widgets in the hierarchies also forward the signal. Inherited from wibox.widget.base
:index (widget, recursive, ...) -> (number, widget, table) Get the index of a widget. Inherited from wibox.widget.base
:disconnect_signal (name, func) Disconnect from a signal. Inherited from gears.object

Object properties

children table Get or set the children elements. Inherited from wibox.widget.base
all_children table Get all direct and indirect children widgets. Inherited from wibox.widget.base
forced_height number or nil Force a widget height. Inherited from wibox.widget.base
forced_width number or nil Force a widget width. Inherited from wibox.widget.base
opacity number The widget opacity (transparency). Inherited from wibox.widget.base
visible boolean The widget visibility. Inherited from wibox.widget.base
buttons table The widget buttons. Inherited from wibox.widget.base

Signals

widget::layout_changed When the layout (size) change. Inherited from wibox.widget.base
widget::redraw_needed When the widget content changed. Inherited from wibox.widget.base
button::press When a mouse button is pressed over the widget. Inherited from wibox.widget.base
button::release When a mouse button is released over the widget. Inherited from wibox.widget.base
mouse::enter When the mouse enter a widget. Inherited from wibox.widget.base
mouse::leave When the mouse leave a widget. Inherited from wibox.widget.base


Constructors

🔗 awful.widget.watch (command, timeout, callback, base_widget)
Create a textbox that shows the output of a command and updates it at a given time interval.

Parameters:

Name Type(s) Description Default value
command string or table The command. Not applicable
timeout Optional integer The time interval at which the textbox will be updated. 5
callback Optional table

The function that will be called after the command output will be received. it is shown in the textbox. Defaults to:

 function(widget, stdout, stderr, exitreason, exitcode)
     widget:set_text(stdout)
 end
Undefined
widget wibox.widget Base widget instance. Not applicable
stdout string Output on stdout. Not applicable
stderr string Output on stderr. Not applicable
exitreason string Exit Reason. The reason can be "exit" or "signal". Not applicable
exitcode integer Exit code. For "exit" reason it's the exit code. For "signal" reason — the signal causing process termination. Not applicable
base_widget Optional wibox.widget Base widget. wibox.widget.textbox()

Returns:

  1. The widget used by this watch.
  2. Its gears.timer.

Object methods

🔗 :emit_signal (name, ...) · Inherited from gears.object
Emit a signal.

Parameters:

Name Type(s) Description
name string The name of the signal.
... Extra arguments for the callback functions. Each connected function receives the object as first argument and then any extra arguments that are given to emit_signal().
🔗 :connect_signal (name, func) · Inherited from gears.object
Connect to a signal.

Parameters:

Name Type(s) Description
name string The name of the signal.
func function The callback to call when the signal is emitted.
🔗 :weak_connect_signal (name, func) · Inherited from gears.object
Connect to a signal weakly.

This allows the callback function to be garbage collected and automatically disconnects the signal when that happens.

Warning: Only use this function if you really, really, really know what you are doing.

Parameters:

Name Type(s) Description
name string The name of the signal.
func function The callback to call when the signal is emitted.
🔗 :add_button (button) · Inherited from wibox.widget.base
Add a new awful.button to this widget.

Parameters:

Name Type(s) Description
button awful.button The button to add.
🔗 :emit_signal_recursive (signal_name, ...) · Inherited from wibox.widget.base

Emit a signal and ensure all parent widgets in the hierarchies also forward the signal.

This is useful to track signals when there is a dynamic set of containers and layouts wrapping the widget.

Note that this function has some flaws:

  1. The signal is only forwarded once the widget tree has been built. This happens after all currently scheduled functions have been executed. Therefore, it will not start to work right away.
  2. In case the widget is present multiple times in a single widget tree, this function will also forward the signal multiple times (once per upward tree path).
  3. If the widget is removed from the widget tree, the signal is still forwarded for some time, similar to the first case.

Parameters:

Name Type(s) Description
signal_name string
... Other arguments
🔗 :index (widget, recursive, ...) -> (number, widget, table) · Inherited from wibox.widget.base
Get the index of a widget.

Parameters:

Name Type(s) Description
widget widget The widget to look for.
recursive Optional boolean Recursively check accross the sub-widgets hierarchy.
... Optional widget Additional widgets to add at the end of the sub-widgets hierarchy "path".

Returns:

  1. number The widget index.
  2. widget The parent widget.
  3. table The hierarchy path between "self" and "widget".
🔗 :disconnect_signal (name, func) · Inherited from gears.object
Disconnect from a signal.

Parameters:

Name Type(s) Description
name string The name of the signal.
func function The callback that should be disconnected.

Object properties

🔗 children table · Inherited from wibox.widget.base
Get or set the children elements.

Constraints:

Default value : {}
Table content : A list of wibox.widget.

See also:

wibox.widget.base.all_children
🔗 all_children table · Inherited from wibox.widget.base
Get all direct and indirect children widgets. This will scan all containers recursively to find widgets Warning: This method it prone to stack overflow if there is a loop in the widgets hierarchy. A hierarchy loop is when a widget, or any of its children, contain (directly or indirectly) itself.

Constraints:

Default value : {}
Table content : A list of wibox.widget.

See also:

wibox.widget.base.children
🔗 forced_height number or nil · Inherited from wibox.widget.base
Force a widget height.

Constraints:

Default value : nil
Type description:
nil : Let the layout decide the height. Usually using the widget native height.
number : Enforce a number of pixels.
Unit : pixel
Negative allowed : false

See also:

wibox.widget.base.forced_width
🔗 forced_width number or nil · Inherited from wibox.widget.base
Force a widget width.

Constraints:

Default value : nil
Type description:
nil : Let the layout decide the width. Usually using the widget native width.
number : Enforce a number of pixels.
Unit : pixel
Negative allowed : false

See also:

wibox.widget.base.forced_height
🔗 opacity number · Inherited from wibox.widget.base
The widget opacity (transparency).

Constraints:

Default value : 1.0
Unit : A gradient between transparent (0.0) and opaque (1.0).
Minimum value : 0.0
Maximum value : 1.0

See also:

wibox.widget.base.visible
🔗 visible boolean · Inherited from wibox.widget.base
The widget visibility.

Constraints:

Default value : true
Valid values : true or false.

See also:

wibox.widget.base.opacity
🔗 buttons table · Inherited from wibox.widget.base
The widget buttons.

The table contains a list of awful.button objects.

Constraints:

Default value : {}
Table content : A list of awful.button.

See also:

awful.button Create easily new buttons objects ignoring certain modifiers. module

Signals

🔗 widget::layout_changed · Inherited from wibox.widget.base
When the layout (size) change. This signal is emitted when the previous results of :layout() and :fit() are no longer valid. Unless this signal is emitted, :layout() and :fit() must return the same result when called with the same arguments.

See also:

widget::redraw_needed When the widget content changed. signals
🔗 widget::redraw_needed · Inherited from wibox.widget.base
When the widget content changed. This signal is emitted when the content of the widget changes. The widget will be redrawn, it is not re-layouted. Put differently, it is assumed that :layout() and :fit() would still return the same results as before.

See also:

widget::layout_changed When the layout (size) change. signals
🔗 button::press · Inherited from wibox.widget.base
When a mouse button is pressed over the widget.

Arguments:

Name Type(s) Description
self table The current object instance itself.
lx number The horizontal position relative to the (0,0) position in the widget.
ly number The vertical position relative to the (0,0) position in the widget.
button number The button number.
mods table The modifiers (mod4, mod1 (alt), Control, Shift)
find_widgets_result table The entry from the result of wibox:find_widgets for the position that the mouse hit.
drawable wibox.drawable The drawable containing the widget.
widget widget The widget being displayed.
hierarchy wibox.hierarchy The hierarchy managing the widget's geometry.
x number An approximation of the X position that the widget is visible at on the surface.
y number An approximation of the Y position that the widget is visible at on the surface.
width number An approximation of the width that the widget is visible at on the surface.
height number An approximation of the height that the widget is visible at on the surface.
widget_width number The exact width of the widget in its local coordinate system.
widget_height number The exact height of the widget in its local coordinate system.

See also:

mouse Manipulate and inspect the mouse cursor. module
🔗 button::release · Inherited from wibox.widget.base
When a mouse button is released over the widget.

Arguments:

Name Type(s) Description
self table The current object instance itself.
lx number The horizontal position relative to the (0,0) position in the widget.
ly number The vertical position relative to the (0,0) position in the widget.
button number The button number.
mods table The modifiers (mod4, mod1 (alt), Control, Shift)
find_widgets_result table The entry from the result of wibox:find_widgets for the position that the mouse hit.
drawable wibox.drawable The drawable containing the widget.
widget widget The widget being displayed.
hierarchy wibox.hierarchy The hierarchy managing the widget's geometry.
x number An approximation of the X position that the widget is visible at on the surface.
y number An approximation of the Y position that the widget is visible at on the surface.
width number An approximation of the width that the widget is visible at on the surface.
height number An approximation of the height that the widget is visible at on the surface.
widget_width number The exact width of the widget in its local coordinate system.
widget_height number The exact height of the widget in its local coordinate system.

See also:

mouse Manipulate and inspect the mouse cursor. module
🔗 mouse::enter · Inherited from wibox.widget.base
When the mouse enter a widget.

Arguments:

Name Type(s) Description
self table The current object instance itself.
find_widgets_result table The entry from the result of wibox:find_widgets for the position that the mouse hit.
drawable wibox.drawable The drawable containing the widget.
widget widget The widget being displayed.
hierarchy wibox.hierarchy The hierarchy managing the widget's geometry.
x number An approximation of the X position that the widget is visible at on the surface.
y number An approximation of the Y position that the widget is visible at on the surface.
width number An approximation of the width that the widget is visible at on the surface.
height number An approximation of the height that the widget is visible at on the surface.
widget_width number The exact width of the widget in its local coordinate system.
widget_height number The exact height of the widget in its local coordinate system.

See also:

mouse Manipulate and inspect the mouse cursor. module
🔗 mouse::leave · Inherited from wibox.widget.base
When the mouse leave a widget.

Arguments:

Name Type(s) Description
self table The current object instance itself.
find_widgets_result table The entry from the result of wibox:find_widgets for the position that the mouse hit.
drawable wibox.drawable The drawable containing the widget.
widget widget The widget being displayed.
hierarchy wibox.hierarchy The hierarchy managing the widget's geometry.
x number An approximation of the X position that the widget is visible at on the surface.
y number An approximation of the Y position that the widget is visible at on the surface.
width number An approximation of the width that the widget is visible at on the surface.
height number An approximation of the height that the widget is visible at on the surface.
widget_width number The exact width of the widget in its local coordinate system.
widget_height number The exact height of the widget in its local coordinate system.

See also:

mouse Manipulate and inspect the mouse cursor. module
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