% xmobar - a minimalistic status bar
# About
xmobar is a minimalistic, mostly text based, status bar. It was
originally designed and implemented by Andrea Rossato to work with
[xmonad], but it's actually usable with any window-manager.
xmobar was inspired by the [Ion3] status bar, and supports similar
features, like dynamic color management, icons, output templates, and
extensibility through plugins.
This page documents xmobar 0.23.1 (see [release notes]).
[This screenshot] shows xmobar running under [sawfish], with
antialiased fonts. And [this one] is my desktop with [xmonad] and two
instances of xmobar.
[release notes]: http://projects.haskell.org/xmobar/releases.html
[xmonad]: http://xmonad.org
[Ion3]: http://tuomov.iki.fi/software/
[This screenshot]: http://projects.haskell.org/xmobar/xmobar-sawfish.png
[this one]: http://projects.haskell.org/xmobar/xmobar-xmonad.png
# Bug Reports
To submit bug reports you can use the [bug tracker over at Github] or
send mail to our [Mailing list].
Note: the old bug tracker at Google code is deprecated. Please use
Github's for new bugs.
[bug tracker over at Github]: https://github.com/jaor/xmobar/issues
# Installation
## Using cabal-install
Xmobar is available from [Hackage], and you can install it using
`cabal-install`:
cabal install xmobar
See below for a list of optional compilation flags that will enable
some optional plugins. For instance, to install xmobar with all the
bells and whistles, use:
cabal install xmobar --flags="all_extensions"
## From source
If you don't have `cabal-install` installed, you can get xmobar's
source code in a variety of ways:
- From [Hackage]. Just download the latest release from xmobar's
hackage page.
- From [Github]. You can also obtain a tarball in [Github's
downloads page]. You'll find there links to each tagged release.
- From the bleeding edge repo. If you prefer to live dangerously,
just get the latest and greatest (and buggiest, i guess) using
git:
git clone git://github.com/jaor/xmobar
[Github's downloads page]: https://github.com/jaor/xmobar/downloads
If you have cabal installed, you can now use it from within xmobar's
source tree:
cabal install -fall_extensions
Otherwise, run the configure script:
runhaskell Setup.lhs configure
# To enable UTF-8 support run:
runhaskell Setup.lhs configure --flags="with_utf8"
# To enable both XFT and UTF-8 support run:
runhaskell Setup.lhs configure --flags="with_xft"
# To enable all extensions
runhaskell Setup.lhs configure --flags="all_extensions"
Now you can build the source:
runhaskell Setup.lhs build
runhaskell Setup.lhs install # possibly to be run as root
## Optional features
You can configure xmobar to include some optional plugins and
features, which are not compiled by default. To that end, you need to
add one or more flags to either the cabal install command or the
configure setup step, as shown in the examples above.
Extensions need additional libraries (listed below) that will be
automatically downloaded and installed if you're using cabal install.
Otherwise, you'll need to install them yourself.
`with_dbus`
: Enables support for DBUS by making xmobar to publish a service on
the session bus. Requires the [dbus] package.
`with_threaded`
: Uses GHC's threaded runtime. Use this option if xmobar enters a
high-CPU regime right after starting.
`with_utf8`
: UTF-8 support. Requires the [utf8-string] package.
`with_xft`
: Antialiased fonts. Requires the [X11-xft] package. This option
automatically enables UTF-8.
To use XFT fonts you need to use the `xft:` prefix in the `font`
configuration option. For instance:
font = "xft:Times New Roman-10:italic"
Or to have fallback fonts, just separate them by commas:
font = "xft:Open Sans:size=9,WenQuanYi Zen Hei:size=9"
`with_mpd`
: Enables support for the [MPD] daemon. Requires the [libmpd] package.
`with_mpris`
: Enables support for MPRIS v1/v2 protocol.
Requires the [dbus] and [text] packages.
`with_inotify`
: Support for inotify in modern Linux kernels. This option is needed
for the MBox and Mail plugins to work. Requires the [hinotify]
package.
`with_iwlib`
: Support for wireless cards. Enables the Wireless plugin. No Haskell
library is required, but you will need the [iwlib] C library and
headers in your system (e.g., install `libiw-dev` in Debian-based
systems).
`with_alsa`
: Support for ALSA sound cards. Enables the Volume plugin. Requires the
[alsa-mixer] package. To install the latter, you'll need the
[libasound] C library and headers in your system (e.g., install
`libasound2-dev` in Debian-based systems).
`with_datezone`
: Support for other timezones. Enables the DateZone plugin.
Requires [timezone-olson] and [timezone-series] package.
`with_xpm`
: Support for xpm image file format. This will allow loading .xpm files in `<icon>`.
Requires the [libXpm] C library.
`all_extensions`
: Enables all the extensions above.
# Running xmobar
You can now run xmobar with:
xmobar /path/to/config &
or
xmobar &
if you have the default configuration file saved as
`$XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/xmobar/xmobarrc` (defaulting to
`~/.config/xmobar/xmobarrc`), or `~/.xmobarrc`.
## Signal Handling
Since 0.14 xmobar reacts to SIGUSR1 and SIGUSR2:
- After receiving SIGUSR1 xmobar moves its position to the next screen.
- After receiving SIGUSR2 xmobar repositions it self on the current screen.
# Configuration
## Quick Start
See [samples/xmobar.config] for an example.
[samples/xmobar.config]: http://github.com/jaor/xmobar/raw/master/samples/xmobar.config
For the output template:
- `%command%` will execute command and print the output. The output
may contain markups to change the characters' color.
- `<fc=#FF0000>string</fc>` will print `string` with `#FF0000` color
(red).
- `<fn=1>string</fn>` will print `string` with the first font from
`additionalFonts`. The index `0` corresponds to the standard font.
- `<icon=/path/to/icon.xbm/>` will insert the given bitmap. XPM image
format is also supported when compiled with `--flags="with_xpm"`.
- ```<action=`command` button=12345>``` will execute given command
when clicked with specified buttons. If not specified, button is
equal to 1 (left mouse button). Using old syntax (without backticks
surrounding `command`) will result in `button` attribute being
ignored.
- `<raw=len:str/>` allows the encapsulation of arbitrary text `str` (which
must be `len` `Char`s long, where `len` is encoded as a decimal sequence).
Careful use of this and `UnsafeStdinReader`, for example, permits window
managers to feed xmobar strings with `<action>` tags mixed with un-trusted
content (e.g. window titles). For example, if xmobar is invoked as
```xmobar -c "[Run UnsafeStdinReader]" -t "%UnsafeStdinReader%"```
and receives on standard input the line
```<action=`echo test` button=1><raw=41:<action=`echo mooo` button=1>foo</action>/></action>```
then it will display the text ```<action=`echo mooo` button=1>foo</action>```,
which, when clicked, will cause `test` to be echoed.
Other configuration options:
`font`
: Name of the font to be used. Use the `xft:` prefix for XFT fonts.
`additionalFonts`
: Haskell-style list of fonts to be used with the `fn`-template.
Use the `xft:` prefix for XFT fonts.
`bgColor`
: Background color.
`fgColor`
: Default font color.
`alpha`
: The transparency. 0 is transparent, 255 is opaque.
`position`
: Top, TopP, TopW, TopSize, Bottom, BottomP, BottomW, BottomSize or Static
(with x, y, width and height).
: TopP and BottomP take 2 arguments: left padding and right padding.
: TopW and BottomW take 2 arguments: an alignment parameter (L for
left, C for centered, R for Right) and an integer for the
percentage width xmobar window will have in respect to the
screen width.
: TopSize and BottomSize take 3 arguments: an alignment parameter, an
integer for the percentage width, and an integer for the minimum pixel
height that the xmobar window will have.
: For example:
: position = BottomW C 75
: to place xmobar at the bottom, centered with the 75% of the screen width.
: Or:
: position = BottomP 120 0
: to place xmobar at the bottom, with 120 pixel indent of the left.
: Or
: position = Static { xpos = 0 , ypos = 0, width = 1024, height = 15 }
: or
: position = Top
`textOffset`
: The vertical offset, in pixels, for the text baseline. If
negative or not given, xmobar will try to center text
vertically.
`iconOffset`
: The vertical offset, in pixels, for icons bottom line. If negative
or not given, xmobar will try to center icons vertically.
`lowerOnStart`
: When True the window is sent the bottom of the window stack initially.
`hideOnStart`
: When set to True the window is initially not mapped, i.e. hidden. It then
can be toggled manually (for example using the dbus interface) or
automatically (by a plugin) to make it reappear.
`allDesktops`
: When set to True (the default), xmobar will tell the window manager
explicitly to be shown in all desktops, by setting
`_NET_WM_DESKTOP` to 0xffffffff.
`overrideRedirect`
: If you're running xmobar in a tiling window manager, you might need
to set this option to `False` so that it behaves as a docked
application. Defaults to `True`.
`pickBroadest`
: When multiple displays are available, xmobar will choose by default
the first one to place itself. With this flag set to `True`
(the default is `False`) it will choose the broadest one
instead.
`persistent`
: When True the window status is fixed i.e. hiding or revealing is not
possible. This option can be toggled at runtime. Defaults to False.
`border`
: TopB, TopBM, BottomB, BottomBM, FullB, FullBM or NoBorder (default).
: TopB, BottomB, FullB take no arguments, and request drawing a
border at the top, bottom or around xmobar's window,
respectively.
: TopBM, BottomBM, FullBM take an integer argument, which is the
margin, in pixels, between the border of the window and the
drawn border.
`borderColor`
: Border color.
`borderWidth`
: Border width in pixels.
`iconRoot`
: Root folder where icons are stored. For <icon=path/>
if path start with `"/"`, `"./"` or `"../"` it is interpreted as
it is. Otherwise it will have `iconRoot ++ "/"` prepended to
it. Default is `"."`.
`commands`
: For setting the options of the programs to run (optional).
`sepChar`
: The character to be used for indicating commands in the output
template (default '%').
`alignSep`
: a 2 character string for aligning text in the output template. The
text before the first character will be align to left, the text in
between the 2 characters will be centered, and the text after the
second character will be align to the right.
`template`
: The output template.
### Running xmobar with i3status
xmobar can be used to display information generated by [i3status], a
small program that gathers system information and outputs it in
formats suitable for being displayed by the dzen2 status bar, wmii's
status bar or xmobar's `StdinReader`. See [i3status manual] for
further details.
## Command Line Options
xmobar can be either configured with a configuration file or with
command line options. In the second case, the command line options
will overwrite the corresponding options set in the configuration
file.
Example:
xmobar -B white -a right -F blue -t '%LIPB%' -c '[Run Weather "LIPB" [] 36000]'
This is the list of command line options (the output of
xmobar --help):
Usage: xmobar [OPTION...] [FILE]
Options:
-h, -? --help This help
-V --version Show version information
-f font name --font=font name The font name
-B bg color --bgcolor=bg color The background color. Default black
-F fg color --fgcolor=fg color The foreground color. Default grey
-A alpha --alpha=alpha The transparency: 0 is transparent, 255 (the default) is opaque
-o --top Place xmobar at the top of the screen
-b --bottom Place xmobar at the bottom of the screen
-d --dock Try to start xmobar as a dock
-a alignsep --alignsep=alignsep Separators for left, center and right text
alignment. Default: '}{'
-s char --sepchar=char The character used to separate commands in
the output template. Default '%'
-t template --template=template The output template
-i path --iconroot=path Default directory for icon pattern files
-c commands --commands=commands The list of commands to be executed
-C command --add-command=command Add to the list of commands to be executed
-x screen --screen=screen On which X screen number to start
Mail bug reports and suggestions to <xmobar@projects.haskell.org>
## The DBus Interface
When compiled with the optional `with_dbus` flag, xmobar can be
controlled over dbus. All signals defined in [src/Signal.hs] as `data
SignalType` can now be sent over dbus to xmobar. Due to current
limitations of the implementation only one process of xmobar can
acquire the dbus. This is handled on a first-come-first-served basis,
meaning that the first process will get the dbus interface. Other
processes will run without further problems, yet have no dbus
interface.
[src/Signal.hs]: https://github.com/jaor/xmobar/raw/master/src/Signal.hs
- Bus Name: `org.Xmobar.Control`
- Object Path: `/org/Xmobar/Control`
- Member Name: Any of SignalType, e.g. `string:Reveal`
- Interface Name: `org.Xmobar.Control`
An example using the `dbus-send` command line utility:
dbus-send \
--session \
--dest=org.Xmobar.Control \
--type=method_call \
--print-reply \
'/org/Xmobar/Control' \
org.Xmobar.Control.SendSignal \
"string:Toggle 0"
It is also possible to send multiple signals at once:
# send to another screen, reveal and toggle the persistent flag
dbus-send [..] \
"string:ChangeScreen 0" "string:Reveal 0" "string:TogglePersistent"
The `Toggle`, `Reveal`, and `Hide` signals take an additional integer
argument that denotes an initial delay, in tenths of a second, before
the command takes effect.
### Example for using the DBus IPC interface with XMonad
Bind the key which should {,un}map xmobar to a dummy value. This is necessary
for {,un}grabKey in xmonad.
((0, xK_Alt_L ), return ())
Also, install `avoidStruts` layout modifier from `XMonad.Hooks.ManageDocks`
Finally, install these two event hooks (`handleEventHook` in `XConfig`)
`myDocksEventHook` is a replacement for `docksEventHook` which reacts on unmap
events as well (which `docksEventHook` doesn't).
import qualified XMonad.Util.ExtensibleState as XS
data DockToggleTime = DTT { lastTime :: Time } deriving (Eq, Show, Typeable)
instance ExtensionClass DockToggleTime where
initialValue = DTT 0
toggleDocksHook :: Int -> KeySym -> Event -> X All
toggleDocksHook to ks ( KeyEvent { ev_event_display = d
, ev_event_type = et
, ev_keycode = ekc
, ev_time = etime
} ) =
io (keysymToKeycode d ks) >>= toggleDocks >> return (All True)
where
toggleDocks kc
| ekc == kc && et == keyPress = do
safeSendSignal ["Reveal 0", "TogglePersistent"]
XS.put ( DTT etime )
| ekc == kc && et == keyRelease = do
gap <- XS.gets ( (-) etime . lastTime )
safeSendSignal [ "TogglePersistent"
, "Hide " ++ show (if gap < 400 then to else 0)
]
| otherwise = return ()
safeSendSignal s = catchX (io $ sendSignal s) (return ())
sendSignal = withSession . callSignal
withSession mc = connectSession >>= \c -> callNoReply c mc >> disconnect c
callSignal :: [String] -> MethodCall
callSignal s = ( methodCall
( objectPath_ "/org/Xmobar/Control" )
( interfaceName_ "org.Xmobar.Control" )
( memberName_ "SendSignal" )
) { methodCallDestination = Just $ busName_ "org.Xmobar.Control"
, methodCallBody = map toVariant s
}
toggleDocksHook _ _ _ = return (All True)
myDocksEventHook :: Event -> X All
myDocksEventHook e = do
when (et == mapNotify || et == unmapNotify) $
whenX ((not `fmap` (isClient w)) <&&> runQuery checkDock w) refresh
return (All True)
where w = ev_window e
et = ev_event_type e
## The Output Template
The output template must contain at least one command. xmobar will
parse the template and will search for the command to be executed in
the `commands` configuration option. First an `alias` will be searched
(plugins such as Weather or Network have default aliases, see below).
After that, the command name will be tried. If a command is found, the
arguments specified in the `commands` list will be used.
If no command is found in the `commands` list, xmobar will ask the
operating system to execute a program with the name found in the
template. If the execution is not successful an error will be
reported.
It's possible to insert in the global templates icon directives of the
form:
<icon=/path/to/bitmap.xbm/>
which will produce the expected result. Accepted image formats are XBM
and XPM (when `with_xpm` flag is enabled). If path does not start with
`"/"`, `"./"`, `"../"` it will have `iconRoot ++ "/"` prepended to it.
It's also possible to use action directives of the form:
<action=`command` button=12345>
which will be executed when clicked on with specified mouse buttons. This tag
can be nested, allowing different commands to be run depending on button clicked.
## The `commands` Configuration Option
The `commands` configuration option is a list of commands information
and arguments to be used by xmobar when parsing the output template.
Each member of the list consists in a command prefixed by the `Run`
keyword. Each command has arguments to control the way xmobar is going
to execute it.
The option consists in a list of commands separated by a comma and
enclosed by square parenthesis.
Example:
[Run Memory ["-t","Mem: <usedratio>%"] 10, Run Swap [] 10]
to run the Memory monitor plugin with the specified template, and the
swap monitor plugin, with default options, every second. And here's
an example of a template for the commands above using an icon:
template="<icon=/home/jao/.xmobar/mem.xbm/><memory> <swap>"
This example will run "xclock" command when date is clicked:
template="<action=`xclock`>%date%</action>
The only internal available command is `Com` (see below Executing
External Commands). All other commands are provided by plugins. xmobar
comes with some plugins, providing a set of system monitors, a
standard input reader, an Unix named pipe reader, a configurable date
plugin, and much more: we list all available plugins below.
Other commands can be created as plugins with the Plugin
infrastructure. See below.
## System Monitor Plugins
This is the description of the system monitor plugins available in
xmobar. Some of them are only installed when an optional build option
is set: we mention that fact, when needed, in their description.
Each monitor has an `alias` to be used in the output template.
Monitors have default aliases. The sections below describe every
monitor in turn, but before we provide a list of the configuration
options (or *monitor arguments*) they all share.
### Icon patterns
Some monitors allow usage of strings that depend on some integer value
from 0 to 8 by replacing all occurences of `"%%"` with it
(i.e. `"<icon=/path/to/icon_%%.xpm/>"` will be interpreted
as `"<icon=/path/to/icon_3.xpm/>"` when the value is `3`, also `"%"` is interpreted
as `"%"`, `"%%"` as `"3"`, `"%%%"` as `"3%"`, `"%%%%"` as `"33"` and so on). Essentially
it allows to replace vertical bars with custom icons. For example,
Run Brightness
[ "-t", "<ipat>"
, "--"
, "--brightness-icon-pattern", "<icon=bright_%%.xpm/>"
] 30
Will display `bright_0.xpm` to `bright_8.xpm` depending on current brightness
value.
### Default Monitor Arguments
Monitors accept a common set of arguments, described in the first
subsection below. In addition, some monitors accept additional options
that are specific to them. When specifying the list of arguments in
your configuration, the common options come first, followed by "--",
followed by any monitor-specific options.
These are the options available for all monitors below:
- `-t` _string_ Output template
- Template for the monitor output. Field names must be enclosed
between pointy brackets (`<foo>`) and will be substituted by the
computed values. You can also specify the foreground (and
optionally, background) color for a region by bracketing it
between `<fc=fgcolor>` (or `<fc=fgcolor,bgcolor>`) and
`</fc>`. The rest of the template is output verbatim.
- Long option: `--template`
- Default value: per monitor (see above).
- `-H` _number_ The high threshold.
- Numerical values higher than _number_ will be displayed with the
color specified by `-h` (see below).
- Long option: `--High`
- Default value: 66
- `-L` _number_ The low threshold.
- Numerical values higher than _number_ and lower than the high
threshold will be displayed with the color specified by `-n`
(see below). Values lower than _number_ will use the `-l` color.
- Long option: `--Low`
- Default value: 33
- `-h` _color_ High threshold color.
- Color for displaying values above the high threshold. _color_ can
be either a name (e.g. "blue") or an hexadecimal RGB (e.g.
"#FF0000").
- Long option: `--high`
- Default: none (use the default foreground).
- `-n` _color_ Color for 'normal' values
- Color used for values greater than the low threshold but lower
than the high one.
- Long option: `--normal`
- Default: none (use the default foreground).
- `-l` _color_ The low threshold color
- Color for displaying values below the low threshold.
- Long option: `--low`
- Default: none (use the default foreground).
- `-S` _boolean_ Display optional suffixes
- When set to a true designator ("True", "Yes" or "On"), optional
value suffixes such as the '%' symbol or optional units will be
displayed.
- Long option: `--suffix`
- Default: False.
- `-p` _number_ Percentages padding
- Width, in number of digits, for quantities representing
percentages. For instance `-p 3` means that all percentages
in the monitor will be represented using 3 digits.
- Long option: `--ppad`
- Default value: 0 (don't pad)
- `-d` _number_ Decimal digits
- Number of digits after the decimal period to use in float values.
- Long option: `--ddigits`
- Default value: 0 (display only integer part)
- `-m` _number_ Minimum field width
- Minimum width, in number of characters, of the fields in the
monitor template. Values whose printed representation is shorter
than this value will be padded using the padding characters
given by the `-c` option with the alignment specified by `-a`
(see below).
- Long option: `--minwidth`
- Default: 0
- `-M` _number_ Maximum field width
- Maximum width, in number of characters, of the fields in the
monitor template. Values whose printed representation is longer
than this value will be truncated.
- Long option: `--maxwidth`
- Default: 0 (no maximum width)
- `-w` _number_ Fixed field width
- All fields will be set to this width, padding or truncating as
needed.
- Long option: `--width`
- Default: 0 (variable width)
- `-c` _string_
- Characters used for padding. The characters of _string_ are used
cyclically. E.g., with `-P +- -w 6`, a field with value "foo"
will be represented as "+-+foo".
- Long option: `--padchars`
- Default value: " "
- `-a` r|l Field alignment
- Whether to use right (r) or left (l) alignment of field values
when padding.
- Long option: `--align`
- Default value: r (padding to the left)
- `-b` _string_ Bar background
- Characters used, cyclically, to draw the background of bars.
For instance, if you set this option to "·.", an empty bar will
look like this: `·.·.·.·.·.`
- Long option: `--bback`
- Default value: ":"
- `-f` _string_ Bar foreground
- Characters used, cyclically, to draw the foreground of bars.
- Long option: `--bfore`
- Default value: "#"
- `-W` _number_ Bar width
- Total number of characters used to draw bars.
- Long option: `--bwidth`
- Default value: 10
- `-x` _string_ N/A string
- String to be used when the monitor is not available
- Long option: `--nastring`
- Default value: "N/A"
Commands' arguments must be set as a list. E.g.:
Run Weather "EGPF" ["-t", "<station>: <tempC>C"] 36000
In this case xmobar will run the weather monitor, getting information
for the weather station ID EGPF (Glasgow Airport, as a homage to GHC)
every hour (36000 tenth of seconds), with a template that will output
something like:
Glasgow Airport: 16.0C
### `Uptime Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to `uptime`
- Args: default monitor arguments. The low and high
thresholds refer to the number of days.
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`days`, `hours`, `minutes`, `seconds`. The total uptime is the
sum of all those fields. You can set the `-S` argument to "True"
to add units to the display of those numeric fields.
- Default template: `Up: <days>d <hours>h <minutes>m`
### `Weather StationID Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to the Station ID: so `Weather "LIPB" []` can be used in
template as `%LIPB%`
- Thresholds refer to temperature in the selected units
- Args: default monitor arguments
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`station`, `stationState`, `year`, `month`, `day`, `hour`,
`windCardinal`, `windAzimuth`, `windMph`, `windKnots`,
`visibility`, `skyCondition`, `tempC`, `tempF`,
`dewPointC`, `dewPointF`, `rh`, `pressure`
- Default template: `<station>: <tempC>C, rh <rh>% (<hour>)`
- Retrieves weather information from http://weather.noaa.gov.
### `Network Interface Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to the interface name: so `Network "eth0" []` can be used as
`%eth0%`
- Thresholds refer to velocities expressed in Kb/s
- Args: default monitor arguments, plus:
- `--rx-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for reception rate in `rxipat`.
- `--tx-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for transmission rate in `txipat`.
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`dev`, `rx`, `tx`, `rxbar`, `rxvbar`, `rxipat`, `txbar`, `txvbar`,
`txipat`. Reception and transmission rates (`rx` and `tx`) are displayed
by default as Kb/s, without any suffixes, but you can set the `-S` to
"True" to make them displayed with adaptive units (Kb/s, Mb/s, etc.).
- Default template: `<dev>: <rx>KB|<tx>KB`
### `DynNetwork Args RefreshRate`
- Active interface is detected automatically
- Aliases to "dynnetwork"
- Thresholds are expressed in Kb/s
- Args: default monitor arguments, plus:
- `--rx-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for reception rate in `rxipat`.
- `--tx-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for transmission rate in `txipat`.
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`dev`, `rx`, `tx`, `rxbar`, `rxvbar`, `rxipat`, `txbar`, `txvbar`,
`txipat`. Reception and transmission rates (`rx` and `tx`) are displayed
in Kbytes per second, and you can set the `-S` to "True" to make them
displayed with units (the string "Kb/s").
- Default template: `<dev>: <rx>KB|<tx>KB`
### `Wireless Interface Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to the interface name with the suffix "wi": thus, `Wireless
"wlan0" []` can be used as `%wlan0wi%`
- Args: default monitor arguments, plus:
- `--quality-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for connection quality in `qualityipat`.
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`essid`, `quality`, `qualitybar`, `qualityvbar`, `qualityipat`
- Thresholds refer to link quality in a `[0, 100]` scale
- Default template: `<essid> <quality>`
- Requires the C library [iwlib] (part of the wireless tools suite)
installed in your system. In addition, to activate this plugin you
must pass `--flags="with_iwlib"` during compilation
### `Memory Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to `memory`
- Args: default monitor arguments, plus:
- `--used-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for used memory ratio in `usedipat`.
- `--free-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for free memory ratio in `freeipat`.
- `--available-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for available memory ratio in `availableipat`.
- Thresholds refer to percentage of used memory
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`total`, `free`, `buffer`, `cache`, `available`, `used`,
`usedratio`, `usedbar`, `usedvbar`, `usedipat`,
`freeratio`, `freebar`, `freevbar`, `freeipat`,
`availableratio`, `availablebar`, `availablevbar`, `availableipat`
- Default template: `Mem: <usedratio>% (<cache>M)`
### `Swap Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to `swap`
- Args: default monitor arguments
- Thresholds refer to percentage of used swap
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`total`, `used`, `free`, `usedratio`
- Default template: `Swap: <usedratio>%`
### `Cpu Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to `cpu`
- Args: default monitor arguments, plus:
- `--load-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for cpu load in `ipat`
- Thresholds refer to percentage of CPU load
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`total`, `bar`, `vbar`, `ipat`, `user`, `nice`, `system`, `idle`, `iowait`
- Default template: `Cpu: <total>%`
### `MultiCpu Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to `multicpu`
- Args: default monitor arguments, plus:
- `--load-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for overall cpu load in `ipat`.
- `--load-icon-patterns`: dynamic string for each cpu load in `autoipat`, `ipat{i}`.
This option can be specified several times. nth option
corresponds to nth cpu.
- Thresholds refer to percentage of CPU load
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`autototal`, `autobar`, `autovbar`, `autoipat`, `autouser`, `autonice`,
`autosystem`, `autoidle`, `total`, `bar`, `vbar`, `ipat`, `user`, `nice`,
`system`, `idle`, `total0`, `bar0`, `vbar0`, `ipat0`, `user0`, `nice0`,
`system0`, `idle0`, ...
The auto* variables automatically detect the number of CPUs on the system
and display one entry for each.
- Default template: `Cpu: <total>%`
### `Battery Args RefreshRate`
- Same as `BatteryP ["BAT0", "BAT1", "BAT2"] Args RefreshRate`.
### `BatteryP Dirs Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to `battery`
- Dirs: list of directories in `/sys/class/power_supply/` where to
look for the ACPI files of each battery. Example:
`["BAT0","BAT1","BAT2"]`. Only the first 3 directories will be
searched.
- Args: default monitor arguments, plus the following specific ones
(these options, being specific to the monitor, are to be specified
after a `--` in the argument list):
- `-O`: string for AC "on" status (default: "On")
- `-i`: string for AC "idle" status (default: "On")
- `-o`: string for AC "off" status (default: "Off")
- `-L`: low power (`watts`) threshold (default: -12)
- `-H`: high power threshold (default: -10)
- `-l`: color to display power lower than the `-L` threshold
- `-m`: color to display power lower than the `-H` threshold
- `-h`: color to display power higher than the `-H` threshold
- `-p`: color to display positive power (battery charging)
- `-f`: file in `/sys/class/power_supply` with AC info (default:
"AC/online")
- `--on-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for current battery charge
when AC is "on" in `leftipat`.
- `--off-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for current battery charge
when AC is "off" in `leftipat`.
- `--idle-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for current battery charge
when AC is "idle" in `leftipat`.
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`left`, `leftbar`, `leftvbar`, `leftipat`, `timeleft`, `watts`, `acstatus`
- Default template: `Batt: <watts>, <left>% / <timeleft>`
- Example (note that you need "--" to separate regular monitor options from
Battery's specific ones):
Run BatteryP ["BAT0"]
["-t", "<acstatus><watts> (<left>%)",
"-L", "10", "-H", "80", "-p", "3",
"--", "-O", "<fc=green>On</fc> - ", "-i", "",
"-L", "-15", "-H", "-5",
"-l", "red", "-m", "blue", "-h", "green"]
600
In the above example, the thresholds before the "--" separator
affect only the `<left>` and `<leftbar>` fields, while those after
the separator affect how `<watts>` is displayed. For this monitor,
neither the generic nor the specific options have any effect on
`<timeleft>`.
It is also possible to specify template variables in the `-O` and
`-o` switches, as in the following example:
Run BatteryP ["BAT0"]
["-t", "<acstatus>"
, "-L", "10", "-H", "80"
, "-l", "red", "-h", "green"
, "--", "-O", "Charging", "-o", "Battery: <left>%"
] 10
- The "idle" AC state is selected whenever the AC power entering the
battery is zero.
### `BatteryN Dirs Args RefreshRate Alias`
Works like `BatteryP`, but lets you specify an alias for the monitor
other than "battery". Useful in case you one separate monitors for
more than one battery.
### `TopProc Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to `top`
- Args: default monitor arguments. The low and high
thresholds (`-L` and `-H`) denote, for memory entries, the percent
of the process memory over the total amount of memory currently in
use and, for cpu entries, the activity percentage (i.e., the value
of `cpuN`, which takes values between 0 and 100).
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`no`, `name1`, `cpu1`, `both1`, `mname1`, `mem1`, `mboth1`,
`name2`, `cpu2`, `both2`, `mname2`, `mem2`, `mboth2`, ...
- Default template: `<both1>`
- Displays the name and cpu/mem usage of running processes (`bothn`
and `mboth` display both, and is useful to specify an overall
maximum and/or minimum width, using the `-m`/`-M` arguments. `no` gives
the total number of processes.
### `TopMem Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to `topmem`
- Args: default monitor arguments. The low and high
thresholds (`-L` and `-H`) denote the percent of the process memory
over the total amount of memory currently in use.
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`name1`, `mem1`, `both1`, `name2`, `mem2`, `both2`, ...
- Default template: `<both1>`
- Displays the name and RSS (resident memory size) of running
processes (`bothn` displays both, and is useful to specify an
overall maximum and/or minimum width, using the `-m`/`-M` arguments.
### `DiskU Disks Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to `disku`
- Disks: list of pairs of the form (device or mount point, template),
where the template can contain `<size>`, `<free>`, `<used>`, `<freep>` or
`<usedp>`, `<freebar>`, `<freevbar>`, `<freeipat>`, `<usedbar>`,
`<usedvbar>` or `<usedipat>` for total, free, used, free percentage and
used percentage of the given file system capacity.
- Thresholds refer to usage percentage.
- Args: default monitor arguments. `-t`/`--template` is ignored. Plus
- `--free-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for free disk space in `freeipat`.
- `--used-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for used disk space in `usedipat`.
- Default template: none (you must specify a template for each file system).
- Example:
DiskU [("/", "<used>/<size>"), ("sdb1", "<usedbar>")]
["-L", "20", "-H", "50", "-m", "1", "-p", "3"]
20
### `DiskIO Disks Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to `diskio`
- Disks: list of pairs of the form (device or mount point, template),
where the template can contain `<total>`, `<read>`, `<write>` for total,
read and write speed, respectively. There are also bar versions of each:
`<totalbar>`, `<totalvbar>`, `<totalipat>`,
`<readbar>`, `<readvbar>`, `<readipat>`,
`<writebar>`, `<writevbar>`, and `<writeipat>`.
- Thresholds refer to speed in b/s
- Args: default monitor arguments. `-t`/`--template` is ignored. Plus
- `--total-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for total disk I/O in `<totalipat>`.
- `--write-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for write disk I/O in `<writeipat>`.
- `--read-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for read disk I/O in `<readipat>`.
- Default template: none (you must specify a template for each file system).
- Example:
DiskIO [("/", "<read> <write>"), ("sdb1", "<total>")] [] 10
### `ThermalZone Number Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to "thermaln": so `ThermalZone 0 []` can be used in template
as `%thermal0%`
- Thresholds refer to temperature in degrees
- Args: default monitor arguments
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`temp`
- Default template: `<temp>C`
- This plugin works only on systems with devices having thermal zone.
Check directories in `/sys/class/thermal` for possible values of the
zone number (e.g., 0 corresponds to `thermal_zone0` in that
directory).
- Example:
Run ThermalZone 0 ["-t","<id>: <temp>C"] 30
#### `Thermal Zone Args RefreshRate`
- **This plugin is deprecated. Use `ThermalZone` instead.**
- Aliases to the Zone: so `Thermal "THRM" []` can be used in template
as `%THRM%`
- Args: default monitor arguments
- Thresholds refer to temperature in degrees
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`temp`
- Default template: `Thm: <temp>C`
- This plugin works only on systems with devices having thermal zone.
Check directories in /proc/acpi/thermal_zone for possible values.
- Example:
Run Thermal "THRM" ["-t","iwl4965-temp: <temp>C"] 50
### `CpuFreq Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to `cpufreq`
- Args: default monitor arguments
- Thresholds refer to frequency in GHz
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`cpu0`, `cpu1`, .., `cpuN`
- Default template: `Freq: <cpu0>GHz`
- This monitor requires acpi_cpufreq module to be loaded in kernel
- Example:
Run CpuFreq ["-t", "Freq:<cpu0>|<cpu1>GHz", "-L", "0", "-H", "2",
"-l", "lightblue", "-n","white", "-h", "red"] 50
### `CoreTemp Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to `coretemp`
- Args: default monitor arguments
- Thresholds refer to temperature in degrees
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`core0`, `core1`, .., `coreN`
- Default template: `Temp: <core0>C`
- This monitor requires coretemp module to be loaded in kernel
- Example:
Run CoreTemp ["-t", "Temp:<core0>|<core1>C",
"-L", "40", "-H", "60",
"-l", "lightblue", "-n", "gray90", "-h", "red"] 50
### `Volume Mixer Element Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to the mixer name and element name separated by a colon. Thus,
`Volume "default" "Master" [] 10` can be used as `%default:Master%`.
- Args: default monitor arguments. Also accepts:
- `-O` _string_ On string
- The string used in place of `<status>` when the mixer element
is on. Defaults to "[on]".
- Long option: `--on`
- `-o` _string_ Off string
- The string used in place of `<status>` when the mixer element
is off. Defaults to "[off]".
- Long option: `--off`
- `-C` _color_ On color
- The color to be used for `<status>` when the mixer element
is on. Defaults to "green".
- Long option: `--onc`
- `-c` _color_ Off color
- The color to be used for `<status>` when the mixer element
is off. Defaults to "red".
- Long option: `--offc`
- `--highd` _number_ High threshold for dB. Defaults to -5.0.
- `--lowd` _number_ Low threshold for dB. Defaults to -30.0.
- `--volume-icon-pattern` _string_ dynamic string for current volume in `volumeipat`.
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`volume`, `volumebar`, `volumevbar`, `volumeipat`, `dB`, `status`
- Note that `dB` might only return 0 on your system. This is known
to happen on systems with a pulseaudio backend.
- Default template: `Vol: <volume>% <status>`
- Requires the package [alsa-core] and [alsa-mixer] installed in your
system. In addition, to activate this plugin you must pass
`--flags="with_alsa"` during compilation.
### `MPD Args RefreshRate`
- This monitor will only be compiled if you ask for it using the
`with_mpd` flag. It needs [libmpd] 5.0 or later (available on Hackage).
- Aliases to `mpd`
- Args: default monitor arguments. In addition you can provide
`-P`, `-S` and `-Z`, with an string argument, to represent the
playing, stopped and paused states in the `statei` template field.
The environment variables `MPD_HOST` and `MPD_PORT` are used to configure the
mpd server to communicate with. Also available:
- `lapsed-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for current track position in `ipat`.
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`bar`, `vbar`, `ipat`, `state`, `statei`, `volume`, `length`,
`lapsed`, `remaining`,
`plength` (playlist length), `ppos` (playlist position),
`flags` (ncmpcpp-style playback mode),
`name`, `artist`, `composer`, `performer`,
`album`, `title`, `track`, `file`, `genre`
- Default template: `MPD: <state>`
- Example (note that you need "--" to separate regular monitor options from
MPD's specific ones):
Run MPD ["-t",
"<composer> <title> (<album>) <track>/<plength> <statei> [<flags>]",
"--", "-P", ">>", "-Z", "|", "-S", "><"] 10
### `Mpris1 PlayerName Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to `mpris1`
- Requires [dbus] and [text] packages.
To activate, pass `--flags="with_mpris"` during compilation.
- PlayerName: player supporting MPRIS v1 protocol, in lowercase.
- Args: default monitor arguments.
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`album`, `artist`, `arturl`, `length`, `title`, `tracknumber`
- Default template: `<artist> - <title>`
- Example:
Run Mpris1 "clementine" ["-t", "<artist> - [<tracknumber>] <title>"] 10
### `Mpris2 PlayerName Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to `mpris2`
- Requires [dbus] and [text] packages.
To activate, pass `--flags="with_mpris"` during compilation.
- PlayerName: player supporting MPRIS v2 protocol, in lowercase.
- Args: default monitor arguments.
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`album`, `artist`, `arturl`, `length`, `title`,
`tracknumber`, `composer`, `genre`
- Default template: `<artist> - <title>`
- Example:
Run Mpris2 "spotify" ["-t", "<artist> - [<composer>] <title>"] 10
### `Mail Args Alias`
- Args: list of maildirs in form
`[("name1","path1"),...]`. Paths may start with a '~'
to expand to the user's home directory.
- This plugin requires inotify support in your Linux kernel and the
[hinotify] package. To activate, pass `--flags="with_inotify"`
during compilation.
- Example:
Run Mail [("inbox", "~/var/mail/inbox"),
("lists", "~/var/mail/lists")]
"mail"
### `MBox Mboxes Opts Alias`
- Mboxes a list of mbox files of the form `[("name", "path", "color")]`,
where name is the displayed name, path the absolute or relative (to
BaseDir) path of the mbox file, and color the color to use to display
the mail count (use an empty string for the default).
- Opts is a possibly empty list of options, as flags. Possible values:
-a --all (no arg) Show all mailboxes, even if empty.
-d dir --dir dir a string giving the base directory where mbox files with
a relative path live.
-p prefix --prefix prefix a string giving a prefix for the list
of displayed mail counts
-s suffix --suffix suffix a string giving a suffix for the list
of displayed mail counts
- Paths may start with a '~' to expand to the user's home directory.
- This plugin requires inotify support in your Linux kernel and the
[hinotify] package. To activate, pass `--flags="with_inotify"`
during compilation.
- Example. The following command look for mails in `/var/mail/inbox`
and `~/foo/mbox`, and will put a space in front of the printed string
(when it's not empty); it can be used in the template with the alias
`mbox`:
Run MBox [("I ", "inbox", "red"), ("O ", "~/foo/mbox", "")]
["-d", "/var/mail/", "-p", " "] "mbox"
### `XPropertyLog PropName`
- Aliases to `PropName`
- Reads the X property named by `PropName` (a string) and displays its
value. The [samples/xmonadpropwrite.hs script] in xmobar's
distribution can be used to set the given property from the output
of any other program or script.
[samples/xmonadpropwrite.hs script]: https://github.com/jaor/xmobar/raw/master/samples/xmonadpropwrite.hs
### `UnsafeXPropertyLog PropName`
- Aliases to `PropName`
- Same as `XPropertyLog`, but the input is not filtered to avoid
injection of actions (cf. `UnsafeXMonadLog`). The program writing
the value of the read property is responsible of performing any
needed cleanups.
### `NamedXPropertyLog PropName Alias`
- Aliases to `Alias`
- Same as `XPropertyLog`, but a custom alias can be specified.
### `NamedXPropertyLog PropName Alias`
- Aliases to `Alias`
- Same as `UnsafeXPropertyLog`, but a custom alias can be specified.
### `Brightness Args RefreshRate`
- Aliases to `bright`
- Args: default monitor arguments, plus the following specif ones:
- `-D`: directory in `/sys/class/backlight/` with files in it
(default: "acpi_video0")
- `-C`: file with the current brightness (default:
actual_brightness)
- `-M`: file with the maximum brightness (default:
max_brightness)
- `--brightness-icon-pattern`: dynamic string for current brightness in `ipat`.
- Variables that can be used with the `-t`/`--template` argument:
`vbar`, `percent`, `bar`, `ipat`
- Default template: `<percent>`
- Example:
Run Brightness ["-t", "<bar>"] 60
### `Kbd Opts`
- Registers to XKB/X11-Events and output the currently active keyboard layout.
Supports replacement of layout names.
- Aliases to `kbd`
- Opts is a list of tuples:
- first element of the tuple is the search string
- second element of the tuple is the corresponding replacement
- Example:
Run Kbd [("us(dvorak)", "DV"), ("us", "US")]
### `Locks`
- Displays the status of Caps Lock, Num Lock and Scroll Lock.
- Aliases to `locks`
- Example:
Run Locks
### `CatInt n filename`
- Reads and displays an integer from the file whose path is `filename`
(especially useful with files in `/sys`).
- Aliases as `catn` (e.g. `Cat 0` as `cat0`, etc.) so you can
have several.
- Example:
Run CatInt 0 "/sys/devices/platform/thinkpad_hwmon/fan1_input" [] 50
## Executing External Commands
In order to execute an external command you can either write the
command name in the template, in this case it will be executed without
arguments, or you can configure it in the "commands" configuration
option list with the Com template command:
`Com ProgramName Args Alias RefreshRate`
- ProgramName: the name of the program
- Args: the arguments to be passed to the program at execution time
- RefreshRate: number of tenths of second between re-runs of the
command. A zero or negative rate means that the command will be
executed only once.
- Alias: a name to be used in the template. If the alias is en empty
string the program name can be used in the template.
E.g.:
Run Com "uname" ["-s","-r"] "" 0
can be used in the output template as `%uname%` (and xmobar will call
_uname_ only once), while
Run Com "date" ["+\"%a %b %_d %H:%M\""] "mydate" 600
can be used in the output template as `%mydate%`
## Other Plugins
<font size="+1">**`StdinReader`**</font>
- Aliases to StdinReader
- Displays any text received by xmobar on its standard input.
- Strips actions from the text received. This means you can't pass dynamic
actions via stdin. This is safer than `UnsafeStdinReader` because there is
no need to escape the content before passing it to xmobar's standard input.
<font size="+1">**`UnsafeStdinReader`**</font>
- Aliases to UnsafeStdinReader
- Displays any text received by xmobar on its standard input.
- Will not do anything to the text received. This means you can pass dynamic
actions via stdin. Be careful to remove tags from dynamic text that you
pipe-thru to xmobar's standard input, e.g. window's title. There is no way
to escape the tags, i.e. you can't print a literal `<action>` tag as a text
on xmobar.
- Sample usage: send to xmobar's stdin the list of your workspaces enclosed by
actions tags that switches the workspaces to be able to switch workspaces by
clicking on xmobar:
```<action=`xdotool key alt+1`>ws1</action> <action=`xdotool key alt+1`>ws2</action>```
<font size="+1">**`Date Format Alias RefreshRate`**</font>
- Format is a time format string, as accepted by the standard ISO C
`strftime` function (or Haskell's `formatCalendarTime`).
- Sample usage: `Run Date "%a %b %_d %Y <fc=#ee9a00>%H:%M:%S</fc>" "date" 10`
<font size="+1">**`DateZone Format Locale Zone Alias RefreshRate`**</font>
- Format is a time format string, as accepted by the standard ISO C
`strftime` function (or Haskell's `formatCalendarTime`).
- If Locale is "" the default locale of the system is used, otherwise the given
locale. If there are more instances of DateZone, using "" as input for Locale
is not recommended.
- Zone is the name of the TimeZone. It is assumed that the tz database is stored
in /usr/share/zoneinfo/. If "" is given as Zone, the default system time is
used.
- Sample usage:
`Run DateZone "%a %H:%M:%S" "de_DE.UTF-8" "Europe/Vienna" "viennaTime" 10`
<font size="+1">**`CommandReader "/path/to/program" Alias`**</font>
- Runs the given program, and displays its standard output.
<font size="+1">**`PipeReader "default text:/path/to/pipe" Alias`**</font>
- Reads its displayed output from the given pipe.
- Prefix an optional default text separated by a colon
<font size="+1">**`MarqueePipeReader "default text:/path/to/pipe" (length, rate, sep) Alias`**</font>
- Generally equivalent to PipeReader
- Text is displayed as marquee with the specified length, rate in 10th
seconds and separator when it wraps around
Run MarqueePipeReader "/tmp/testpipe" (10, 7, "+") "mpipe"
<font size="+1">
**`BufferedPipeReader Alias [(Timeout, Bool, "/path/to/pipe1"), ..]`**
</font>
- Display data from multiple pipes.
- Timeout (in tenth of seconds) is the value after which the previous
content is restored i.e. if there was already something from a
previous pipe it will be put on display again, overwriting the
current status.
- A pipe with Timeout of 0 will be displayed permanently, just like
`PipeReader`
- The boolean option indicates whether new data for this pipe should
make xmobar appear (unhide, reveal). In this case, the Timeout
additionally specifies when the window should be hidden again. The
output is restored in any case.
- Use it for OSD-like status bars e.g. for setting the volume or
brightness:
Run BufferedPipeReader "bpr"
[ ( 0, False, "/tmp/xmobar_window" )
, ( 15, True, "/tmp/xmobar_status" )
]
Have your window manager send window titles to
`"/tmp/xmobar_window"`. They will always be shown and not reveal
your xmobar. Sending some status information to
`"/tmp/xmobar_status"` will reveal xmonad for 1.5 seconds and
temporarily overwrite the window titles.
- Take a look at [samples/status.sh]
[samples/status.sh]: http://github.com/jaor/xmobar/raw/master/samples/status.sh
<font size="+1">**`XMonadLog`**</font>
- Aliases to XMonadLog
- Displays information from xmonad's `_XMONAD_LOG`. You can set this
property by using `xmonadPropLog` as your log hook in xmonad's
configuration, as in the following example (more info [here]):
main = do
spawn "xmobar"
xmonad $ defaultConfig {
logHook = dynamicLogString defaultPP >>= xmonadPropLog
}
This plugin can be used as a sometimes more convenient alternative
to `StdinReader`. For instance, it allows you to (re)start xmobar
outside xmonad.
[here]: http://xmonad.org/xmonad-docs/xmonad-contrib/XMonad-Hooks-DynamicLog.html
<font size="+1">**`UnsafeXMonadLog`**</font>
- Aliases to UnsafeXMonadLog
- Similar to StdinReader versus UnsafeStdinReader, this does not strip `<action
...>` tags from XMonad's `_XMONAD_LOG`.
- It is advised that you still use `xmobarStrip` for the ppTitle in your
logHook:
myPP = defaultPP { ppTitle = xmobarStrip }
main = xmonad $ defaultConfig {
logHook = dynamicLogString myPP >>= xmonadPropLog
}
# Plugins
## Writing a Plugin
Writing a plugin for xmobar should be very simple. You need to create
a data type with at least one constructor.
Next you must declare this data type an instance of the `Exec` class, by
defining the 1 needed method (alternatively `start` or `run`) and 2
optional ones (alias and rate):
start :: e -> (String -> IO ()) -> IO ()
run :: e -> IO String
rate :: e -> Int
alias :: e -> String
`start` must receive a callback to be used to display the `String`
produced by the plugin. This method can be used for plugins that need
to perform asynchronous actions. See `Plugins/PipeReader.hs` for an
example.
`run` can be used for simpler plugins. If you define only `run` the
plugin will be run every second. To overwrite this default you just
need to implement `rate`, which must return the number of tenth of
seconds between every successive runs. See `Plugins/HelloWorld.hs` for
an example of a plugin that runs just once, and `Plugins/Date.hs` for
one that implements `rate`.
Notice that Date could be implemented as:
instance Exec Date where
alias (Date _ a _) = a
start (Date f _ r) = date f r
date :: String -> Int -> (String -> IO ()) -> IO ()
date format r callback = do go
where go = do
t <- toCalendarTime =<< getClockTime
callback $ formatCalendarTime defaultTimeLocale format t
tenthSeconds r >> go
This implementation is equivalent to the one you can read in
`Plugins/Date.hs`.
`alias` is the name to be used in the output template. Default alias
will be the data type constructor.
Implementing a plugin requires importing the plugin API (the `Exec`
class definition), that is exported by `Plugins.hs`. So you just need
to import it in your module with:
import Plugins
After that your type constructor can be used as an argument for the
Runnable type constructor `Run` in the `commands` list of the
configuration options.
This requires importing your plugin into `Config.hs` and adding your
type to the type list in the type signature of `Config.runnableTypes`.
For a very basic example see `samples/Plugins/HelloWorld.hs` or the
other plugins that are distributed with xmobar.
## Installing/Removing a Plugin
Installing a plugin should require 3 steps. Here we are going to
install the HelloWorld plugin that comes with xmobar, assuming that
you copied it to `src/Plugins`:
1. import the plugin module in `Config.hs`, by adding:
import Plugins.HelloWorld
2. add the plugin data type to the list of data types in the type
signature of `runnableTypes` in `Config.hs`. For instance, for the
HelloWorld plugin, change `runnableTypes` into:
runnableTypes :: Command :*: Monitors :*: HelloWorld :*: ()
runnableTypes = undefined
3. Rebuild and reinstall xmobar. Now test it with:
xmobar Plugins/helloworld.config
As you may see in the example configuration file, the plugin can be
used by adding, in the `commands` list:
Run HelloWorld
and, in the output template, the alias of the plugin:
%helloWorld%
That's it.
To remove a plugin, just remove its type from the type signature of
runnableTypes and remove the imported modules.
To remove the system monitor plugin:
1. remove, from `Config.hs`, the line
import Plugins.Monitors
2. in `Config.hs` change
runnableTypes :: Command :*: Monitors :*: ()
runnableTypes = undefined
to
runnableTypes :: Command :*: ()
runnableTypes = undefined
3. rebuild xmobar.
# Authors and credits
Andrea Rossato originally designed and implemented xmobar up to
version 0.11.1. Since then, it is maintained and developed by [jao],
with the help of the greater xmobar and Haskell communities.
In particular, xmobar [incorporates patches] by Axel Angel, Ben
Boeckel, Duncan Burke, Roman Cheplyaka, Patrick Chilton, Nathaniel
Wesley Filardo, John Goerzen, Reto Hablützel, Juraj Hercek, Tomas
Janousek, Spencer Janssen, Jochen Keil, Lennart Kolmodin, Krzysztof
Kosciuszkiewicz, Dmitry Kurochkin, Todd Lunter, Robert J. Macomber,
Dmitry Malikov, David McLean, Marcin Mikołajczyk, Dino Morelli, Tony
Morris, Eric Mrak, Thiago Negri, Edward O'Callaghan, Svein Ove, Martin
Perner, Jens Petersen, Alexander Polakov, Petr Rockai, Andrew
Sackville-West, Markus Scherer, Alexander Shabalin, Peter Simons,
Alexander Solovyov, John Soros, Travis Staton, Artem Tarasov, Samuli
Thomasson, Edward Tjörnhammar, Sergei Trofimovich, Thomas Tuegel, Jan
Vornberger, Anton Vorontsov, Daniel Wagner, Phil Xiaojun Hu, Edward
Z. Yang and Norbert Zeh.
[jao]: http://jao.io
[incorporates patches]: http://www.ohloh.net/p/xmobar/contributors
## Thanks
__Andrea Rossato__:
Thanks to Robert Manea and Spencer Janssen for their help in
understanding how X works. They gave me suggestions on how to solve
many problems with xmobar.
Thanks to Claus Reinke for make me understand existential types (or at
least for letting me think I grasp existential types...;-).
__jao__:
Thanks to Andrea for creating xmobar in the first place, and for
giving me the chance to contribute.
# Useful links
- [Github page].
- [Mailing list].
- [xmobar's Ohloh page].
- To understand the internal mysteries of xmobar you may try reading
[this tutorial] on X Window Programming in Haskell.
- My [sawflibs] project includes a module to automate running xmobar
in [sawfish].
[xmobar's Ohloh page]: https://www.ohloh.net/p/xmobar
[this tutorial]: http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/X_window_programming_in_Haskell
[sawflibs]: http://github.com/jaor/sawflibs
# License
This software is released under a BSD-style license. See [LICENSE] for
more details.
Copyright © 2010-2014 Jose Antonio Ortega Ruiz
Copyright © 2007-2010 Andrea Rossato
[Github]: http://github.com/jaor/xmobar/
[Github page]: http://github.com/jaor/xmobar
[Hackage]: http://hackage.haskell.org/package/xmobar/
[LICENSE]: https://github.com/jaor/xmobar/raw/master/LICENSE
[Mailing list]: http://projects.haskell.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/xmobar
[MPD]: http://mpd.wikia.com/
[X11-xft]: http://hackage.haskell.org/package/X11-xft/
[i3status]: http://i3wm.org/i3status/
[i3status manual]: http://i3wm.org/i3status/manpage.html#_using_i3status_with_xmobar
[iwlib]: http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/Tools.html
[libasound]: http://packages.debian.org/stable/libasound2-dev
[hinotify]: http://hackage.haskell.org/package/hinotify/
[libmpd]: http://hackage.haskell.org/package/libmpd/
[dbus]: http://hackage.haskell.org/package/dbus
[text]: http://hackage.haskell.org/package/text
[sawfish]: http://sawfish.wikia.com/
[utf8-string]: http://hackage.haskell.org/package/utf8-string/
[alsa-core]: http://hackage.haskell.org/package/alsa-core
[alsa-mixer]: http://hackage.haskell.org/package/alsa-mixer
[timezone-olson]: http://hackage.haskell.org/package/timezone-olson
[timezone-series]: http://hackage.haskell.org/package/timezone-series
[libXpm]: http://cgit.freedesktop.org/xorg/lib/libXpm