i3 Won't allow me to change workspace names

light-tuna · 2018-10-29 03:14:12

Hello! I'm using i3 with polybar and I'm unable to change my workspaces' names. I've renamed them both with

set $ws1 "1:www"
set $ws2 "2:social"

in my config, and

i3-msg 'rename workspace 1 to "1: www"'

in the terminal, but when I attempt to do so polybar lists the workspaces as "-1" or just duplicates my current workspace.

Is there anything I'm doing wrong here?

Docbroke · 2018-10-29 17:27:12

You have assigned "1:www" to variable $ws1, but you didn't set below command in your config file

bindsym $mod+1  workspace $ws1

, so that pressing $mod+1 shall take you to the workspace named "1:www"

light-tuna · 2018-10-29 23:40:33

I have them listed in my config file like so:

# Define names for default workspaces for which we configure key bindings later on.
# We use variables to avoid repeating the names in multiple places.
set $ws1 "1:www"
set $ws2 "2:social"
set $ws3 "3:work"
set $ws4 "4"
set $ws5 "5"
set $ws6 "6"
set $ws7 "7"
set $ws8 "8"
set $ws9 "9"
set $ws10 "10"

# Switch to workspace
bindsym $mod+1 workspace $ws1
bindsym $mod+2 workspace $ws2
bindsym $mod+3 workspace $ws3
bindsym $mod+4 workspace $ws4
bindsym $mod+5 workspace $ws5
bindsym $mod+6 workspace $ws6
bindsym $mod+7 workspace $ws7
bindsym $mod+8 workspace $ws8
bindsym $mod+9 workspace $ws9
bindsym $mod+0 workspace $ws10

However, i3 doesn't seem to accept it.

progandy · 2018-10-29 23:58:33

I believe i3 is renaming the workspaces correctly, but your polybar configuration is somehow wrong. Try it with i3bar, the names should show correctly. I don't use polybar and can't help you with its configuration, though.

Edit: You can check the names with i3-msg as well

i3-msg -t get_workspaces

Last edited by progandy (2018-10-29 23:59:41)

light-tuna · 2018-10-30 03:35:36

Thank you!

Turns out, it was an issue with polybar all along. I replaced

%index%

with

%name%

and it did the trick!

There's one more issue though, the workspaces display out of order. Whether

index-sort

is true or not, pressing modkey + *number* will take me to the appropriate display, but my $ws1 and $ws2 display in the wrong order in my polybar.

patrickziegler · 2018-11-08 06:01:20

Can you post the output of

i3-msg -t get_workspaces

index-sort=true

will sort by workspace number, if the workspace name isn't a number itself or doesn't start with 'X:' where X is some number then the workspace number will be -1 and those workspaces will always appear to the very left with undefined order.

Arch Linux

#1 2018-10-29 03:14:12

i3 Won't allow me to change workspace names

#2 2018-10-29 17:27:12

Re: i3 Won't allow me to change workspace names

#3 2018-10-29 23:40:33

Re: i3 Won't allow me to change workspace names

#4 2018-10-29 23:58:33

Re: i3 Won't allow me to change workspace names

#5 2018-10-30 03:35:36

Re: i3 Won't allow me to change workspace names

#6 2018-11-08 06:01:20

Re: i3 Won't allow me to change workspace names

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