Ubuntu – Create keyboard shortcuts to move windows to different monitors without Compiz

mateshortcut-keysubuntu-matewindow-manager

I'm running Ubuntu MATE 16.04 and I love it right out of the box. The only thing I need on it is the ability to move my windows to different monitors using the keyboard.

I've been using CompizConfig Settings Manager and it works, but Compiz causes a long list of problems on my system that disappear when I disable it. Compiz is a big package and all I want is the ability to move my windows to a different monitor. All other features are already built into Ubuntu MATE 16.04 LTS keyboard shortcuts menu (switch workspaces, move window to workspace, tile left, right, horizontal, vertical, etc).

Move window east (right) side of screen and Move window west (left) side of screen for some reason don't work on all applications (notably Firefox, but Chrome and others work).

Is there a guide that shows how to make your own keyboard shortcuts? I found a site where someone made their own for Xubuntu. While I'm trying to figure out what they did, does anyone have a simple method for creating keyboard shortcuts that move windows between monitors?

Best Answer

Introduction

window_jumper.py is a python script that will move active window across multiple monitors in cycle. For instance, if you have 3 monitors A,B, and C , repeated keypress of the assigned shortcut will move the window from A, to B, to C, and back to A. The window placement will be Top Left corner of each screen.

Usage

To run script manually

python window_jumper.py

The script has no command line options ( as of right now , but may in future ).

Setting Up Keyboard Shortcut

Ubuntu Unity steps:

Go to System Settings -> KeyboardShortcuts tab , select Custom Shortcuts and click + button. Custom Shortcut popup will appear with two fields Name: and Command:
For Name field , call it window_jumper. For Command: provide full path to the script file. For instance, python /home/ubuntu_user/bin/window_jumper.py . Click Apply
Click on the right-most column , the words New accelerator will appear. Press the keyboard shortcut that you wish to be designated to this script. For instance , I chose CtrlSuperJ

Ubuntu Mate instructions:

Go to SystemControl CenterKeyboard Shortcuts , click Add. Custom Shortcut popup will appear with two fields Name: and Command:
For Name field , call it window_jumper. For Command: provide full path to the script file. For instance, python /home/ubuntu_user/bin/window_jumper.py . Click Apply
Right-most column (labeled Shortcut) will have words Disabled on the line. Click on the words, the text will change to New shortcut. Press the key combination you wish to use.

Script source

Also available as on GitHub. If you have GitHub account, please submit issues and feature requests there.

#!/usr/bin/env python
import gi
gi.require_version('Gtk', '3.0')
from gi.repository import GdkX11, Gdk, Gtk


def main():

    DEBUG = False

    screen = GdkX11.X11Screen.get_default()
    monitors = []
    for monitor in range(screen.get_n_monitors()):
        monitors.append(
            [screen.get_monitor_geometry(monitor).x,
             screen.get_monitor_geometry(monitor).y])

    if DEBUG:
        print monitors

    active_window = screen.get_active_window()
    active_window_location = screen.get_monitor_at_window(active_window)

    new_location = None
    new_location = active_window_location + 1
    if active_window_location + 1 >= monitors.__len__():
        new_location = 0
    new_screen = monitors[new_location]
    if DEBUG:
        print new_screen

    active_window.move(new_screen[0], new_screen[1])
    screen.get_active_window()
    # TODO: add resizing window routine in cases where
    # a window is larger than the size of the screen
    # to which we're moving it.

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Side notes:

The code may or may not change to include additional features.
In case you receive ImportError: No module named gi run sudo apt install python-gi (Thanks Dariusz for the comment)

Move your semi- maximized windows across multiple screens ("aero- snap" alike)

The script below does exactly as you describe. It can be used on any number of screens. The script is optimized for Unity, but can easily be edited to fit other window managers.

It turned out to be a bit more complicated than I thought, since the script should take into account that the user possibly set the launcher to only appear on the leftmost screen (or not). The targeted positions (and targeted window sizes) should be calculated accordingly.

Notes

The script moves the windows through all connected screens, subsequently switching through the "halves" of the screens, from left to right and vice versa.
The script reads the sizes of the screens and sets the window size, to half the screen size accordingly.
The script reads the settings on the launcher (if the launcher appears on only the first screen or on all), and calculates the targeted window sizes accordingly.
The script does not take into account the possibly set autohide option for the launcher. The reason is that updating the windowsize once the launcher hides or shows up would take a background script, and quite an other story to code.
The windows are moved and resized by a combination of xdotool and wmctrl - commands. Since these commands can have some "characteristic behaviour" in combination with Unity, there is a possiblility minor changes can be useful on your system. I tested it on two (quite different) systems however, working fine on both.

The script

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import subprocess
import sys

# --- set possibly wanted marge (on the right side of the window) below
marge = 0
# --- set set launcher width below (default = 65)
default_launcherwidth = 65
# ---

move = sys.argv[1]
get = lambda cmd: subprocess.check_output(
    ["/bin/bash", "-c", cmd]).decode("utf-8")

screendata = [l for l in get("xrandr").splitlines() if " connected" in l]
# get the primary screen's position
pr = [l.split() for l in screendata if "primary" in l][0]
i = pr.index("primary"); s = pr[i+1]
primary= [int(s.split("x")[0]), int(s.split("+")[-2])]
# general screen list
screendata = [
    [s for s in l.split() if s.count("+") == 2][0] for l in screendata
    ]
screendata = [
    [int(s.split("x")[0]),int(s.split("+")[-2])] for s in screendata
    ]
screendata.sort(key=lambda x: x[1]); primary = screendata.index(primary)

def launcher_size():
    launcherset = get(
        "dconf read /org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/unityshell/num-launchers"
        ).strip()
    l_size_0 = 65; l_size_1 = l_size_0 if launcherset == "0" else 0
    return [l_size_0, l_size_1]

def magnets(index):
    l_size = l_sizes[0] if index == primary else l_sizes[1]
    screen = screendata[index]
    screenwidth = screen[0]; shift = screen[1]
    parts = (screenwidth - l_size)/2; virtual_mid = screenwidth - parts + shift
    left_trigger = shift + l_size
    return [left_trigger, int(virtual_mid), int(parts)]

def find_screen(x_loc):
    scr_index = len([scr for scr in screendata if x_loc >= scr[1]])-1
    scr_index = scr_index if scr_index >= 0 else 0
    screen = screendata[scr_index]
    return [scr_index, screen]

def get_active():
    active = hex(int(get("xdotool getactivewindow").strip()))
    active = active[:2]+(10-len(active))*"0"+active[2:] 
    x_pos = int([l.split()[2] for l in get("wmctrl -lG").splitlines() \
                 if l.startswith(active)][0])
    return [active, x_pos]

def decide(x_loc, active):
    current_scr = find_screen(x_loc)
    triggers = magnets(current_scr[0])
    width = triggers[2]
    index = current_scr[0]
    if move == "left":
        if x_loc <= triggers[1]:
            if x_loc == triggers[0]:
                if index != 0:
                    alter = magnets(index-1) 
                    width = alter[-1]
                    target = alter[1]
                else:
                    target = triggers[0]
            else:
                target = triggers[0]
        elif x_loc > triggers[1]:
            target = triggers[1]        
    elif move == "right":
        if x_loc >= triggers[1]:
            if index != len(screendata)-1:
                alter = magnets(index+1)
                width = alter[-1]
                target = alter[0]
            else:
                target = triggers[1]
        elif x_loc < triggers[1]:
            target = triggers[1]
    subprocess.call([
        "wmctrl", "-r", ":ACTIVE:","-b", "remove,maximized_vert,maximized_horz"
        ])
    subprocess.call(["wmctrl", "-ir", active, "-e", "0,"+str(target)+",400,"+\
                      str(int(width)-marge)+",200"])
    subprocess.call([
        "wmctrl", "-ir", active, "-b", "toggle,maximized_vert"
        ])

l_sizes = launcher_size()
w_data = get_active()
active = w_data[0]
x_loc = w_data[1]

decide(x_loc, active)

How to use

The scrpt needs both wmctrl and xdotool:
```
sudo apt-get instal xdotool wmctrl
```
Copy the script into an empty file, save it as move_window.py
Test- run the script from a terminal window by (repeatedly) the command:
```
python3 /path/to/move_window.py right
```
which should move the window through your screens to the rignt, and:
```
python3 /path/to/move_window.py left
```
which should move the window through your screens to the left.
If all works fine, add both commands to shortcut keys: choose: System Settings > "Keyboard" > "Shortcuts" > "Custom Shortcuts". Click the "+" and add the commands to two shortcut keys of your choice.

Important notes

The launcher width is set to 65px (corresponding to icon size 48px + 17px borders, which is the default). If the set width is different, it should be set correctly in the head of the script, as indicated in the section:
```
# --- set set launcher width below (default = 65)
default_launcherwidth = 65
# ---
```
In the headsection of the script, there is furthermore a line:
```
marge = 0
```
which sets the empty marge at the right side of the moved screen. Change it if you like to another value.