bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

hbekel · 2008-10-04 13:23:06

Please note: bashrun is now hosted on sourceforge http://bashrun.sourceforge.net/. There is a package in the community repository.

The following information is outdated, it is kept here only to keep context for this thread.

This script will give you an xterm bash session for executing a just a single command, i.e. a nice application launcher featuring bash completion, history and all the other features you're used to from bash.

This basically works by running bash with the -t option in xterm and rebinding <Return> to mean " & \n" in .bashrunrc.

EDITED: - now HISTCONTROL works as advertised by bash(1)
- added example HISTCONTROL in .bashrunrc
- included example for urxvt

EDITED: - now self-contained, creates .bashrunrc if necessary
- added support for other terminals (see $XTERM in .bashrunrc)

screenshot:

bin/bashrun:

#!/bin/sh 
#
# usage: bashrun [geometry] (default: 40x1)
#
# NOTE: commands entered will have an '&' appended before being run,
# so don't append it yourself, it will fail silently.
# 
# rcfile: $HOME/.bashrunrc
#
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------

GEOM=${1:-40x1}

# create .bashrunrc unless present
BASHRUNRC=$HOME/.bashrunrc
if [ ! -f $BASHRUNRC ]; then
(
cat <<'EOF'
# which X terminal to use:
# (xterm|rxvt|urxvt|mrxvt|aterm|mlterm)
XTERM=xterm 

# history file and options:
HISTFILE=$HOME/.bashrun_history
HISTCONTROL=ignoredups:erasedups

# bind <TAB> to menu-complete. Makes <TAB> cycle through completions on
# the current line instead of paging all possible completions
bind '"\t": menu-complete'

# bind <C-g> to send ^D 
# (<C-g> is the default quit-chain-key in emacs, ratpoison, etc)
bind '"\C-g"':"\"\x04\""

# set a simple prompt
PS1=">"

# ***DO NOT EDIT BEYOND THIS LINE***
#
# bind ENTER to add ' &' to command
bind '"\x0d"':"\" &\n\""
EOF
) > $BASHRUNRC
fi

XTERM=xterm
. $BASHRUNRC 

error() { 
    if [ `which zenity` ]; then
        zenity --title bashrun --error --text "$@"
    elif [ `which kdialog` ]; then
        kdialog --title bashrun --error "$@"
    elif [ `which xmessage` ]; then
        xmessage "$@"
    fi
    echo -en "\007"
    echo $@
}

# run bash terminal
if [ "$XTERM" == "xterm" ]; then
    $XTERM -name 'bashrun' \
    -title 'bashrun' \
    -geometry $GEOM \
    -e "/bin/bash --rcfile $BASHRUNRC -i -t"

elif [[ "$XTERM" == "aterm" || "$XTERM" == "mlterm" ]]; then
    $XTERM -name 'bashrun' \
    -title 'bashrun' \
    -geometry $GEOM +sb \
    -e /bin/bash --rcfile $BASHRUNRC -i -t

elif [[ "$XTERM" == "urxvt" || "$XTERM" == "rxvt" ]]; then
    $XTERM -name 'bashrun' \
    -title 'bashrun' \
    -geometry $GEOM +sb\
    -e sh -c "/bin/bash --rcfile $BASHRUNRC -i -t"

elif [ "$XTERM" == "mrxvt" ]; then
    $XTERM -name 'bashrun' \
    -title 'bashrun' \
    -geometry $GEOM +sb -ht \
    -e sh -c "/bin/bash --rcfile $BASHRUNRC -i -t"
else
    error "$XTERM is not supported. Please check $BASHRUNRC"
    exit 1
fi

# history cleanup...
# remove trailing whitespace and '&' from the last history line
tac $HISTFILE | sed "1s/\&//;s/ *$//" | tac > $HISTFILE

# HISTCONTROL won't work on its own because bash applies the
# 'ignoredups' and 'erasedups' rules to 'command &'.

# apply 'ignoredups' if set
if [[ "$HISTCONTROL" =~ "ignoredups" || "$HISTCONTROL" =~ "ignoreboth" ]]; then
    uniq $HISTFILE $HISTFILE.tmp
    mv $HISTFILE.tmp $HISTFILE
fi

# apply 'erasedups' if set
if [[ "$HISTCONTROL" =~ "erasedups" ]]; then
    tac $HISTFILE | gawk '!x[$0]++' - | tac > $HISTFILE
fi

optionally, in .config/openbox/rc.xml <applications>, add

<application name="bashrun">
      <decor>no</decor>
      <focus>yes</focus>
      <skip_pager>yes</skip_pager>
      <layer>above</layer>
</application>

Have fun,
Henning

Last edited by hbekel (2009-03-06 23:13:05)

MarCustomized · 2008-10-04 16:56:24

So simple, it's beautiful. I like this more than gmrun because I can't get gmrun to start from my home directory.

Last edited by MarCustomized (2008-10-04 16:58:30)

Ghost1227 · 2008-10-04 18:27:59

I love it! why didn't I think of this?!?

MarCustomized · 2008-10-04 19:39:17

I can't get this working with urxvt. It opens, then closes instantly.

hbekel · 2008-10-04 20:08:12

MarCustomized wrote:

I can't get this working with urxvt. It opens, then closes instantly.

the -c switch is different for urxvt. Try

urxvt -name 'bashrun' \
    -title 'bashrun' \
    -geometry $GEOM \
    -e sh -c "/bin/bash --rcfile $HOME/.bashrunrc -i -t"

and it should work.

MarCustomized · 2008-10-04 20:58:44

Brilliant!

hbekel · 2008-10-04 21:30:27

NOTE: I've just edited the original post make HISTCONTROL work with this script.

Ghost1227 · 2008-10-04 21:40:36

Can I convince you to set up a sourceforge (or other standard location) page for these scripts? I'd love to setup a package for AUR. I'm sure there are other users (especially of the various *box WMs) that would appreciate the simple elegance of this script.

dmz · 2008-10-04 21:45:56

I've accomplished the same thing in another way:

urxvt -T 'run' -geometry 50x1+0+1 -externalBorder 0 -internalBorder 0 &

~/.devilspie/run.ds:

( if 
( and 
( matches ( window_name ) "run" )
) 
( begin 
( pin )
( undecorate )
( skip_pager )
( skip_tasklist )
( wintype "utility" )
( stick )
)
)

This way the launcher seems integrated in conky:
http://hostopen.net/ubr_upload/2008-10- … _scrot.png

hbekel · 2008-10-04 21:59:01

dmz wrote:

I've accomplished the same thing in another way:
urxvt -T 'run' -geometry 50x1+0+1 -externalBorder 0 -internalBorder 0 &

This doesn't exit immediately after sending the command into background, which was the point of my script...

dmz · 2008-10-04 22:43:35

hbekel wrote:

dmz wrote:
I've accomplished the same thing in another way:
urxvt -T 'run' -geometry 50x1+0+1 -externalBorder 0 -internalBorder 0 &
This doesn't exit immediately after sending the command into background, which was the point of my script...

What? The only reason it doesn't exit is because I dont want it to exit. Of course you could bind this to whatever you prefer.

hbekel · 2008-10-04 23:03:54

dmz wrote:

hbekel wrote:
dmz wrote:
I've accomplished the same thing in another way:
urxvt -T 'run' -geometry 50x1+0+1 -externalBorder 0 -internalBorder 0 &
This doesn't exit immediately after sending the command into background, which was the point of my script...
What? The only reason it doesn't exit is because I dont want it to exit. Of course you could bind this to whatever you prefer.

I see, the "same thing" part refers only to sizing/wm handling...

frip · 2008-10-05 12:52:40

Very cool idea.

For those, who use mrxvt:

mrxvt -name 'bashrun' -title 'bashrun' -geometry $GEOM -bl +sb -ht -e /bin/bash --rcfile $HOME/.bashrunrc -i -t

Add -bl +sb -ht to hide window decorations, scrollbar and tabbar.
Don't use quotation marks after -e.

hbekel · 2008-10-05 14:31:57

Thanks frip

Last edited by hbekel (2008-10-05 14:35:25)

fwojciec · 2008-10-05 15:45:42

hbekel wrote:

Thanks frip
NOTE: I've updated the OP, including support for (xterm|rxvt|urxvt|mrxvt|aterm|mlterm). just set XTERM in .bashrunrc to choose your terminal.

Great work, thanks!

Changing the elif line for urxvt to something like this makes it possible to use "urxvtc" (urxvt in client mode):

elif [[ "$XTERM" == "urxvt" || "$XTERM" == "rxvt" || "$XTERM" == "urxvtc" ]]; then

Also, is there any way to make the bashrun window close with Esc key?

Ghost1227 · 2008-10-05 16:12:38

Bashrun is now in the AUR here!

Last edited by Ghost1227 (2008-10-05 16:13:03)

Dieter@be · 2008-10-05 19:04:49

Great idea!
Too bad it's hard/impossible to control the window decoration etc from inside bashrun when using xterm. I want to achieve a look like on your screenshot, but it seems like I cannot tell xterm to have no window decorations. seems like I need to change that in my window manager/decorator. I'm using xfwm but I don't think I can do this. I'll probably start using compiz again later, which definitely can do it, but still it would be nice to be able to control it from the bashrun script.

xterm supports 'classes' but I haven't figured out yet what I can do with those.

moljac024 · 2008-10-05 19:11:24

Dieter@be wrote:

Great idea!
Too bad it's hard/impossible to control the window decoration etc from inside bashrun when using xterm. I want to achieve a look like on your screenshot, but it seems like I cannot tell xterm to have no window decorations. seems like I need to change that in my window manager/decorator. I'm using xfwm but I don't think I can do this. I'll probably start using compiz again later, which definitely can do it, but still it would be nice to be able to control it from the bashrun script.
xterm supports 'classes' but I haven't figured out yet what I can do with those.

You could use devilspie. Maybe it could be bundled with the script somehow....

fflarex · 2008-10-05 22:15:58

When I start a process in the background of a normal shell/terminal, then close it, then that process also exits. What in this script prevents that? (I love the script, by the way. I tried writing something similar once but couldn't get around this problem.)

And how would I change your C-g shortcut to the escape key instead? I cannot for the life of me get an escape sequence that works.

Last edited by fflarex (2008-10-05 22:53:21)

hbekel · 2008-10-05 23:55:50

fflarex wrote:

When I start a process in the background of a normal shell/terminal, then close it, then that process also exits. What in this script prevents that? (I love the script, by the way. I tried writing something similar once but couldn't get around this problem.)
And how would I change your C-g shortcut to the escape key instead? I cannot for the life of me get an escape sequence that works.

The trick is to use the -t option of bash. The bash manpage simply reads " -t Exit after reading and executing one command." This seems to include detaching the process from bash if it is send into the background.

I'm not sure whether it is possible to bind the escape key in readline/bash at all -- I guess that's because it's a meta key. Not sure, though. I've tried to do it, but couldn't get it to work either...

Ghost1227 · 2008-10-06 00:03:43

The escape sequence for the escape key is \e but as far as I know just that key doesn't work.
To find escape sequences use the 'read' command.

Ghost1227 · 2008-10-06 00:05:19

lol little late on my post there... and I've been able to bind esc sequences, but not esc by itself.

hbekel · 2008-10-07 18:29:21

It's possible to use xdotool (http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=14789) to send arbitrary keystrokes to applications. If your windowmanager supports dynamic keybinding, you can use the following method to make bashrun exit via escape:

1. in your wm, bind <Escape> to escape.sh, which sends ctrl-c to bashrun
2. run bashrun
3. unbind <Escape> again

This is an example for openbox (be sure to backup your rc.xml):

bashrun-escape-sh:

#!/bin/sh

xmled -i add '//keyboard' ~/.config/openbox/rc.xml <<EOF
<keybind key="Escape">
  <action name="Execute">
    <command>escape.sh</command>
  </action>
</keybind>
EOF
openbox --reconfigure

bashrun

xmled -i remove '//keybind[@key="Escape"]' ~/.config/openbox/rc.xml
openbox --reconfigure

escape.sh:

#!/bin/sh
WID=`xdotool search "bashrun" | head -1` 
xdotool windowfocus $WID 
xdotool key ctrl+c

xmled (ruby):

#!/usr/bin/env ruby

require "getoptlong"
require "rexml/document"
include REXML

$VERSION="0.1"

def usage
STDERR.puts <<EOF 
xmled: modify xml documents

Usage: xmled [-i] <command> <xpath> <file> [<input>] [<output>]

       -i, --inplace: write directly to <file>, ignore <output>
       
       command: show|add|replace|remove
       xpath  : XPath expression to the target node
       file   : Xml file to be modified
       input  : String or file containing an xml document         
                Defaults to stdin.
       output : output filename. Defaults to stdout.

       Commands:

         show <xpath> <file>
           Print out xml matched by <xpath> 

         add <xpath> <file> <input>
           adds the root node of the <input> document to the
           target node specified by <xpath>

         remove <xpath> <file>
           removes the target node

         replace <xpath> <file> <input>
           replaces the target node with the root node of
           the <input> document 

EOF
exit 0
end

def error(msg, code=1)
  STDERR.puts msg
  exit code
end

inplace = false

opts = GetoptLong.new(
                      ["--inplace", "-i", GetoptLong::NO_ARGUMENT],
                      ["--help","-h", GetoptLong::NO_ARGUMENT],
                      ["--version","-v", GetoptLong::NO_ARGUMENT]
                      )
opts.each do |opt, arg|
  if opt == "--inplace" 
    inplace = true
  end
  if opt == "--help"
    usage()
  end
  if opt == "--version"
    error "xmled #{$VERSION}", 0
  end
end

usage unless ARGV.size >= 2

(command, xpath, file, input, output) = ARGV

file = File.expand_path file if file
output = File.expand_path output if output

unless command =~ /show|add|replace|remove/
  error "Unknown command: #{command}", 1
end

unless xpath 
  error "No XPath expression given."
end

begin
  doc = Document.new File.new file  
rescue Exception => e
  error e.message
end

target = doc.elements[xpath]
unless target.is_a? Element
  error "No match for '#{xpath}' in #{file}."
end

if command == "show"
  puts target
  exit
end

if not input
  input = Document.new STDIN.read unless command == "remove"
elsif File.exists? File.expand_path(input)
  input = Document.new File.new File.expand_path input
else
  input = Document.new input
end

input = input.root if input

if command == "show"
  puts target
  exit
elsif command == "add"
  target.add input
elsif command == "remove"
  target.parent.delete_element target
elsif
  command == "replace"
  parent = target.parent
  parent.delete_element target
  parent.add input
end

if inplace
  f = File.new(file, "w")
  doc.write(f)
  f.close
elsif output
  f = File.new(output, "w")
else
  puts doc
end

Last edited by hbekel (2008-10-08 00:48:47)

Ghost1227 · 2008-10-08 02:35:48

Bashrun has been updated to version 0.2.
V0.2 adds support for resizing the terminal (xterm and mrxvt only) through keystrokes.

Mr Green · 2008-10-11 18:36:49

If I could just get this to run in Gnome without decor I would be laughing..... /me goes searching

Arch Linux

#1 2008-10-04 13:23:06

bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#2 2008-10-04 16:56:24

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#3 2008-10-04 18:27:59

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#4 2008-10-04 19:39:17

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#5 2008-10-04 20:08:12

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#6 2008-10-04 20:58:44

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#7 2008-10-04 21:30:27

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#8 2008-10-04 21:40:36

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#9 2008-10-04 21:45:56

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#10 2008-10-04 21:59:01

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#11 2008-10-04 22:43:35

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#12 2008-10-04 23:03:54

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#13 2008-10-05 12:52:40

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#14 2008-10-05 14:31:57

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#15 2008-10-05 15:45:42

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#16 2008-10-05 16:12:38

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#17 2008-10-05 19:04:49

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#18 2008-10-05 19:11:24

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#19 2008-10-05 22:15:58

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#20 2008-10-05 23:55:50

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#21 2008-10-06 00:03:43

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#22 2008-10-06 00:05:19

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#23 2008-10-07 18:29:21

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#24 2008-10-08 02:35:48

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

#25 2008-10-11 18:36:49

Re: bashrun -- app launcher using xterm and bash

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