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

gears.object
- wibox.widget.base
- - awful.widget.watch

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:

The widget used by this watch.
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:

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.
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).
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:

number The widget index.
widget The parent widget.
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.

Constraints:

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

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

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

Constraints:

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

Constraints:

Default value	: `true`
Valid values	: `true` or `false`.

Constraints:

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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Documentation

Module: awful.widget.watch

Class Hierarchy

Info:

Constructors

Object methods

Object properties

Signals

Constructors

Parameters:

Returns:

Object methods

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Module: `awful.widget.watch`