SaveDesktop

A CLI tool for saving and restoring virtual linux desktops.

Stage of development: discotinued

SaveDesktop needs the deprecated xorg display server.
Xorg is almost unmaintened and will be phased out by most of the mayor Linux destributions.
The default desktop session is now the Wayland session.
Alternatives:

Sway

KDE Plasma Window Rules

Main features:

Dumping window geometry and hints to human readable JSON files
Apply the saved layout to any virtual desktop
Command Line Interface
GTK Interface

Dependencies:

X Window Manager that implement the EWMH specification
wmctrl (https://sites.google.com/site/tstyblo/wmctrl/)
xwininfo (for getting window geometry and extents)
xdotool (for hiding windows)
Python 3.7
python-setuptools
python-gobject
gtk3

Compatibility:

Tested DEs:

| Desktop Enviroment | Version | Window Manager | |--------------------|---------|----------------| | Cinnamon | 4 | Muffin | | LXQT | 0.13 | OpenBox | | Mate | 1.20 | Marco | | Plasma | 5 | Kwin | | XFCE | 4 | Xfwm |

Tested Applications:

Caja
Chromium
Dolphin
Falkon
Firefox
Galculator
Gedit
Kate
Konsole
Leafpad
Libre Office
Lxterminal
Mate-Terminal
Midori
Mousepad
Nemo
Pluma
Qpdview
Thunar (remove --daemon option)
VLC
Wine Apps
Xed
Xreader

Incompatible:

Gimp, setting gemometry failed

Installation:

Arch Linux AUR package:

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/savedesktop/

For manual installation use the following command:

$ sudo python setup.py install --optimize=1

Usage:

dump a desktop:

$ svd -d 0 -p profile1 -o

options:

-d 0 dump first desktop

-p profile1 save to ~/.config/savedesktop/profile1.json

-o open in default editor

save with gui:

$ svd --gui

restore a desktop:

$ rvd -d 1 -p profile1

-d 1 restore to second desktop

-p profile1 load ~/.config/savedesktop/profile1.json

restore with gui dialog:

$ rvd --gui

Profiles:

Profile files are stored in '~/.config/savedesktop'

[
  {
    "x": 403,
    "y": 219,
    "width": 1094,
    "height": 599,
    "timeout": 5,
    "cmd": [
      "nemo"
    ],
    "state": ""
  }
]

The following state properties are supported:

maximized_vert
maximized_horz
shaded
hidden
fullscreen

Project Web site:

https://github.com/nrittsti/savedesktop/

Licence:

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

End of document

Savedesktop

Install / Use

README