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bitrat

Member

Registered: 2023-07-19

Posts: 22

activate a graphical application from a script, via process id

Hi,

on debian, as per the title, I'd like to activate an app window (atril) from a script, preferably using the app's process id.

I have a feeling I've done this before, maybe using one of the xwininfo family? ...

Sorry if this is an old question, or obvious, or impossible...  I have searched.

Cheers,
bitrat

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 12,698

Re: activate a graphical application from a script, via process id

I'd like to activate an app window (atril) from a script, preferably using the app's process id.

Which means the application must already be running. You can use wmctrl to raise a minimized window, but it would use it's windowID:

wmctrl -i -a $(wmctrl -lvpx | grep -i atril | awk '{print $1}')

Is this what you were thinking?

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bitrat

Member

Registered: 2023-07-19

Posts: 22

Re: activate a graphical application from a script, via process id

Is this what you were thinking?

Yes, thank you!

Even better is that

wmctrl -lvpx | grep -i atril

gives me the process id as well as the window id, so I can triangulate with pstree.

As a side note, if the atril command is run with a file argument that's already open, it just activates the app, without changing the location in the document.

I was having an issue where it was activating but scrolling to the first page, hence my inquiry.  I was going to use a long winded brute force workaround...

However, atril seems to have reverted to the original (correct) behaviour, so I don't need this fiddle now.  However, I suspect I'll have other uses for it, since I run a number of graphics programs in headless mode (eg: libreoffice, inkscape, ...) and use apps like ristretto to view outputs.

Anyway, thanks again.