Command Line – Get Information About Virtual Desktops

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I'm curious how I can get information such as the dimensions of my desktop, which desktop is currently active, and what labels (if any) are set for my desktop enviornment (DE).

Best Answer

Using the tool wmctrl you can get all the above information, specifically the -d switch.

Example

$ wmctrl -d
0  * DG: 5760x900  VP: 0,0  WA: 0,25 1440x826  Workspace 1
1  - DG: 5760x900  VP: 0,0  WA: 0,25 1440x826  
2  - DG: 5760x900  VP: 0,0  WA: 0,25 1440x826  N/A
3  - DG: 5760x900  VP: 0,0  WA: 0,25 1440x826  N/A

Details

One line is output for each desktop, with the line broken up into space separated columns.

  • The first column contains an integer desktop number.
  • The second column contains a '*' character for the current desktop, otherwise it contains a '-' character.
  • The next two columns contain the fixed string DG: and then the desktop geometry as 'x' (e.g. '1280x1024').
  • The following two columns contain the fixed string VP: and then the viewport position in the format ',' (e.g. '0,0').
  • The next three columns after this contains the fixed string WA: and then two columns with the workarea geometry as 'X,Y and WxH' (e.g. '0,0 1280x998').
  • The rest of the line contains the name of the desktop (possibly containing multiple spaces).

Extra Cool things you can do with wmctrl

list info about Window Manager

$ wmctrl -m
Name: compiz
Class: N/A
PID: N/A
Window manager's "showing the desktop" mode: OFF

list active windows

$ wmctrl -l
0x00c00028 -1 grinchy Top Expanded Edge Panel
0x0120001e  0 grinchy x-nautilus-desktop
0x06015fee  0 grinchy saml@grinchy:~
0x06000004  0 grinchy saml@grinchy:~
0x05a000d1  0 grinchy xorg - How can I get information about my virtual desktops via the command line? - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange - Google Chrome

One line is output for each window, with the line broken up into space separated columns.

  • The first column always contains the window identity as a hexadecimal integer.
  • The second column always contains the desktop number (a -1 is used to identify a sticky window).
  • If the -p option is specified the next column will contain the PID for the window as a decimal integer.
  • If the -G option is specified then four integer columns will follow: x-offset, y-offset, width and height.
  • The next column always contains the client machine name.
  • The remainder of the line contains the window title (possibly with multiple spaces in the title).

-p switch example

0x06015fee  0 3278   grinchy saml@grinchy:~
0x06000004  0 3278   grinchy saml@grinchy:~
0x05a000d1  0 4676   grinchy xorg - How can I get information about my virtual desktops via the command line? - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange - Google Chrome

-G switch example

0x06015fee  0 3378 128  941  361  grinchy saml@grinchy:~
0x06000004  0 900  142  947  397  grinchy saml@grinchy:~
0x05a000d1  0 0    50   1440 826  grinchy xorg - How can I get information about my virtual desktops via the command line? - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange - Google Chrome

*NOTE: The -p and -G switches can also be combined!

switching to a different desktop

$ wmctrl -s 2

NOTE: Desktops are numbered starting at 0, so 1 would be the 2nd.

reduce the number of desktops

$ wmctrl -n 3

We now have 3 instead of 4.

$ wmctrl -d | wc -l
3

Now put it back to 4.

$ wmctrl -n 4
$ wmctrl -d | wc -l
4

Closing a window

$ wmctrl -l | grep GVIM
0x02a00003  0 grinchy [No Name] - GVIM

$ wmctrl -c GVIM

$ wmctrl -l | grep GVIM
$
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