Intelligent tmux session management ... #tmux
Project description
A completely different kind of tmux session manager.
Installation … ( i. Requirements, ii. Guide, iii. Optional packages )
Introduction
Other tmux session managers require pages of documentation for basic use, and define windows as a complicated nesting of pane splits. Instead, tmuxomatic is so easy that anyone could use it after just one example. Yet tmuxomatic is more flexible and more powerful than other tmux session managers.
At the heart of tmuxomatic is the windowgram, a better way of arranging tmux windows. The windowgram is a rectangle comprised of alphanumeric characters (0-9, a-z, A-Z). Each character grouping identifies the name, position, size, and shape of a pane. It should take only one example to demonstrate the power and flexibility of the windowgram.
Learn by example
Compare this window from session_example, with its screenshot from tmuxomatic session_example:
window example_one # A new window begins like this, spaces in names allowed AAAAAAvvvvvXXXXXTTTT # The windowgram, defines the shapes and positions of panes jjjQQQQQQQuuuuuuTTTT # Make your own, any size and arrangement, 62 panes maximum jjjQQQQQQQuuuuuuTTTT jjjQQQQQQQuuuuuuTTTT 0000llllllllllaaaaaa 1234llllllllllaaaaaa foc # Only three 3-letter commands: Focus, Directory, Run dir ~ # Unlinked directory is the default for all undefined panes A run figlet "A" # Linked command to pane A, in this case prints a large "A" Q run figlet "Q" A foc
With tmuxomatic, you’ll never have to manually split, position, or size a pane again. And linking the panes to actions is so simple and logical that you probably won’t forget it. There are no extra file format rules to remember, and typically no command line arguments will be necessary.
For additional features, see the included example sessions. Or for a list of command line arguments, run tmuxomatic --help.
Flex
Windowgrams are a neat way of arranging workspaces. For simpler layouts, a windowgram is typed up quickly. But if you need detail, you may find yourself doing a lot of ASCII art.
In tmuxomatic 2, flex was added to automate the construction and modification of the windowgram itself.
Flex is an object-oriented windowgram editor. It is visually expressive, naturally worded, logically ordered, minimal, and powerful. Its short command set may be combined to make any conceivable windowgram – likely more quickly and more easily than crafting by hand. Flex is intended for power users who desire detailed windowgrams without the tedium of manual entry.
Flex concepts
Before proceeding with the flex demonstration, take a moment to review the following key concepts.
Pane: Single character pane identifier representing one pane in a windowgram
Group: String of one or more panes (usually in the form of a rectangle without gaps)
Edge: String of panes that together border one or more edges (the imaginary line between panes)
Size: Expressed in exact characters, or contextually as a percentage or multiplier
Direction: Cardinal directions (up, down, left, right) for movement or to specify object edge
In the demonstrations below, the flex shell is represented by the flex> prompt. For a detailed list of all flex commands, type help from the shell at any time.
Flex demonstration #1 – Create a new windowgram
Let’s use flex to build a windowgram that would otherwise require a lot of typing.
The following windowgram is what we will be creating in this demonstration. This windowgram is intended for managing cryptocurrency nodes, specifically bitcoin, litecoin, and namecoin. There are panes for a general use shell (1), a disk monitor (z); and for each currency: a title with keep-alive loop on top (B, L, N), and blockchain information on bottom (b, l, n).
1111111111111111111111111zzzzzzzzzzzz 1111111111111111111111111zzzzzzzzzzzz 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLNNNN 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLNNNN 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLNNNN 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLNNNN 1111111111111111111111111bbbbllllnnnn 1111111111111111111111111bbbbllllnnnn 1111111111111111111111111bbbbllllnnnn 1111111111111111111111111bbbbllllnnnn
Begin by opening the flex shell on the session file session_flexample. Flex will create the session file for you if it does not already exist.
% tmuxomatic session_flexample --flex flex>
First use the new command to create a new window named wallets. By default, it will create a single pane window represented by the single character 1.
flex> new wallets 1
From here it takes only four flex commands to complete the envisioned windowgram.
Scale:
To make the window easier to work with, let’s scale this windowgram to 25 characters wide, by 10 characters high. Many flex parameters are flexible, instead of characters we could have used multipliers or percentages.
flex> scale 25x10 1111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111
Add:
Now let’s add a new pane on the right edge, and make it 50% of the size of the base windowgram (or 12 characters, if you prefer).
flex> add right 50% 1111111111111111111111111000000000000 1111111111111111111111111000000000000 1111111111111111111111111000000000000 1111111111111111111111111000000000000 1111111111111111111111111000000000000 1111111111111111111111111000000000000 1111111111111111111111111000000000000 1111111111111111111111111000000000000 1111111111111111111111111000000000000 1111111111111111111111111000000000000
There are only two commands left to complete this, and two ways to do it. One way uses split and break, the other uses break and join. We’ll use break and join, because split is shown in the next demonstration.
Break:
So let’s break pane 0 into a grid, 3 panes wide by 5 panes high. For readability, we’ll make use of the optional parameter so that new panes to start at A.
flex> break 0 3x5 A 1111111111111111111111111AAAABBBBCCCC 1111111111111111111111111AAAABBBBCCCC 1111111111111111111111111DDDDEEEEFFFF 1111111111111111111111111DDDDEEEEFFFF 1111111111111111111111111GGGGHHHHIIII 1111111111111111111111111GGGGHHHHIIII 1111111111111111111111111JJJJKKKKLLLL 1111111111111111111111111JJJJKKKKLLLL 1111111111111111111111111MMMMNNNNOOOO 1111111111111111111111111MMMMNNNNOOOO
Join:
Finally we complete the envisioned layout using just one join command. Each parameter represents a group of panes to be joined together. By default, the first pane in the group becomes the joined name. But we’ll be using the optional rename, by appending . followed by the new pane id.
flex> join ABC.z DG.B EH.L FI.N JM.b KN.l LO.n 1111111111111111111111111zzzzzzzzzzzz 1111111111111111111111111zzzzzzzzzzzz 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLNNNN 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLNNNN 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLNNNN 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLNNNN 1111111111111111111111111bbbbllllnnnn 1111111111111111111111111bbbbllllnnnn 1111111111111111111111111bbbbllllnnnn 1111111111111111111111111bbbbllllnnnn
That’s it. Our windowgram is ready to use.
Either type done and flex will open this session file in tmux, or type exit and add some directions to the session file. The directions specify run commands, home directories, and focus state. For more information on directions, see the example session at the start of this readme.
Flex demonstration #2 – Extend the windowgram
For this demonstration, we modify the windowgram from the previous demonstration, using a different set of flex commands. The commands in this section are described in summary form.
Open the windowgram that we created in the above demonstration
flex> use wallets 1111111111111111111111111zzzzzzzzzzzz 1111111111111111111111111zzzzzzzzzzzz 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLNNNN 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLNNNN 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLNNNN 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLNNNN 1111111111111111111111111bbbbllllnnnn 1111111111111111111111111bbbbllllnnnn 1111111111111111111111111bbbbllllnnnn 1111111111111111111111111bbbbllllnnnn
Split:
Split pane 1, along bottom, exactly 3 characters, name the new pane s
flex> split 1 bottom 3 s 1111111111111111111111111zzzzzzzzzzzz 1111111111111111111111111zzzzzzzzzzzz 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLNNNN 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLNNNN 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLNNNN 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLNNNN 1111111111111111111111111bbbbllllnnnn sssssssssssssssssssssssssbbbbllllnnnn sssssssssssssssssssssssssbbbbllllnnnn sssssssssssssssssssssssssbbbbllllnnnn
Rename:
Rename the panes N and n, to D and d respectively
flex> rename Nn Dd 1111111111111111111111111zzzzzzzzzzzz 1111111111111111111111111zzzzzzzzzzzz 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLDDDD 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLDDDD 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLDDDD 1111111111111111111111111BBBBLLLLDDDD 1111111111111111111111111bbbblllldddd sssssssssssssssssssssssssbbbblllldddd sssssssssssssssssssssssssbbbblllldddd sssssssssssssssssssssssssbbbblllldddd
Swap:
Swap pane z with s, also swap panes Ll with Dd.
flex> swap z s Ll Dd 1111111111111111111111111ssssssssssss 1111111111111111111111111ssssssssssss 1111111111111111111111111BBBBDDDDLLLL 1111111111111111111111111BBBBDDDDLLLL 1111111111111111111111111BBBBDDDDLLLL 1111111111111111111111111BBBBDDDDLLLL 1111111111111111111111111bbbbddddllll zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzbbbbddddllll zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzbbbbddddllll zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzbbbbddddllll
Drag:
Drag the left edge of group BDLbdl, to the left, about 50% of the available space.
flex> drag left BDLbdl left 50% 1111111111111ssssssssssssssssssssssss 1111111111111ssssssssssssssssssssssss 1111111111111BBBBBBBBDDDDDDDDLLLLLLLL 1111111111111BBBBBBBBDDDDDDDDLLLLLLLL 1111111111111BBBBBBBBDDDDDDDDLLLLLLLL 1111111111111BBBBBBBBDDDDDDDDLLLLLLLL 1111111111111bbbbbbbbddddddddllllllll zzzzzzzzzzzzzbbbbbbbbddddddddllllllll zzzzzzzzzzzzzbbbbbbbbddddddddllllllll zzzzzzzzzzzzzbbbbbbbbddddddddllllllll
Insert:
Insert to the left of pane s (scaling group BDLbdl), a pane 6 characters wide.
flex> insert left s:BDLbdl 6 1111111111111000000ssssssssssssssssssssssss 1111111111111000000ssssssssssssssssssssssss 1111111111111BBBBBBBBBBDDDDDDDDDDLLLLLLLLLL 1111111111111BBBBBBBBBBDDDDDDDDDDLLLLLLLLLL 1111111111111BBBBBBBBBBDDDDDDDDDDLLLLLLLLLL 1111111111111BBBBBBBBBBDDDDDDDDDDLLLLLLLLLL 1111111111111bbbbbbbbbbddddddddddllllllllll zzzzzzzzzzzzzbbbbbbbbbbddddddddddllllllllll zzzzzzzzzzzzzbbbbbbbbbbddddddddddllllllllll zzzzzzzzzzzzzbbbbbbbbbbddddddddddllllllllll
Clone:
Delete:
Mirror:
Flip:
Rotate:
Flex is in development, these commands will be added in 2.x
Installation
Installation Requirements
This application requires the following:
Installation Guide
There are three ways to install tmuxomatic, in order of convenience:
Automatically (pip)
An upgrade may require an empty pip cache, rm -rf /tmp/pip-build-root/
pip-python3 install tmuxomatic --upgrade
Manually (python)
Download and extract the archive file from https://pypi.python.org/pypi/tmuxomatic
cd tmuxomatic
python3 setup.py install
From Development (git)
Visit https://github.com/oxidane/tmuxomatic for up-to-date installation instructions
Additional requirement for build pandoc 1.12 +
git clone git://github.com/oxidane/tmuxomatic.git
cd tmuxomatic
pandoc -f markdown -t rst README.md -o README.rst
python3 setup.py install
Verify that the version reported by tmuxomatic -V matches the latest
release.
Optional Packages
The following packages are optional; install if you want the additional features.
pip-python3 install pyyaml … YAML session file support
Notes on tmux
To use tmuxomatic, you don’t have to know everything about how to use tmux, but the knowledge is useful for customizing the tmux status bar, or changing the default key bindings. These are tmux user preferences, and typically placed in a personal .tmux.conf file.
Contributor agreement
Contributions must be comprised of original source, and/or properly attributed public domain source. By submitting, you agree that your contribution will inherit the current copyright and license, and will be subject to future changes in tmuxomatic and any officially-related projects.
Legal
By downloading, copying, installing or using the software you agree to the license. If you do not agree to the license, do not download, copy, install, or use the software.
Copyright
Copyright 2013-2015, Oxidane. All rights reserved.
License
The windowgram module is presently not licensed for use outside the tmuxomatic project. For more information, including future plans for an open source license, please see the file windowgram.py.
The tmuxomatic source is distributed under the BSD 3-Clause License. The copyright and license must be included with any use, modification, or redistribution. See the license for details.
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