[openbox] Trouble with keystroke on the list of windows

[Steve Litt]

Alessandro Vesely said on Sat, 13 May 2023 17:40:56 +0200

>On Sat 13/May/2023 01:56:54 +0200 u34 wrote:

>> 
>> Nice. Is this feature documented? Where? Which search string can
>> find it easily in the Internet?
>> Until now, I didn't know the menu has a similar feature for
>> navigation.  
>
>
>That's not the window list you get with alt-tab, is it?  Does it come
>with an additional taskbar?  What is it?

Now that we know this wonderful feature is undocumented, I'll write the
very first (barebones) documentation in this email...

In my ~/.config/openbox/rc.xml I have the following:

==================================================
    <keybind key="S-C-period">
      <action name="ShowMenu">
        <menu>client-list-combined-menu</menu>
      </action>
    </keybind>
==================================================

So the Openbox function name of the feature we're discussing is
client-list-combined-menu , and I personally use the key combo 
Shift + Ctrl + Period to invoke it. When I press this key combo, a list
of every window pops up, sorted by workspace, with a header for each
workspace, and the highlight on the very top window.

Let's say I have few enough windows that I don't have a "more" at the
bottom. I want a window titled "giveback", and have windows titled
"giveback", "guarddog", and "grampa". I press the g key on the
keyboard, and it goes to the next window whose title begins with "g".
Perhaps it's "guarddog". I press g again and it goes to "grampa". I
press g again and it goes to "giveback", at which time I press Enter
and have "giveback" in focus on the workspace holding "giveback".

Making this even more efficient is the fact that if only one window
begins with the letter you pressed, you don't even have to press Enter.
For instance, let's say your only window beginning with "h" is titled
"Hurry up", and I press the h key. All of a sudden the "Hurry up"
window is in focus on its workspace.

Now here's the thing: It works ONLY with the first letter. You might
think I could press "g" then "i" to go directly to "giveback", but
instead it goes to the window titled "irrigation", as an example.

By the way, I think that Openbox defaults such that if you right click
on the desktop you get this "client-list-combined-menu" window list.

Now you know everything I know about this feature, which I've used
probably 50 times a day for the last 7 years. As more people add
information, a document can be formed.


Thanks,

SteveT

Steve Litt 
Autumn 2022 featured book: Thriving in Tough Times
http://www.troubleshooters.com/bookstore/thrive.htm