pyxbindman

a command line tool for hotkeys management

Installation

$ git clone https://github.com/Suseika/pyxbindman.git
$ cd pyxbindman
# python setup.py install
# cp completion.sh /etc/bash_completion.d/pyxbindman

And restart your terminal to enable completion

Basic usage

This tool works as a frontend for xbindkeys utility, all it does is edit xbindkeys' configurations file(s).

Two most basic commands are:

Binds command command to a key combination

$ pyxbindman command

Unbinds whatever is bound to a key combination

$ pyxbindman -d

Those invoke a key-grabbind window and make a hotkey with a desired command available in your system as soon as you press a key combination.

Usually these two commands are everything you need to manage your hotkeys.

Advanced usage

Please note that using pyxbindman will remove comments from .xbindkeysrc file.

The core feature of this hotkey manager is that you can Tab-complete almost everything.

Add a new mapping to ~/.xbindkeysrc and make it immediately available:

$ pyxbindman firefox
Choose a combination to bind: 
Combination Control+Alt + apostrophe selected

This and some other commands use the same key detecting window as xbindkeys -k.

Delete a mapping for a chosen key combination. Tab completes from a list of keysyms in an .xbindkeysrc:

$ pyxbindman -d "Shift+Alt + o"

Or even by its keycode (completion is available when argument starts with letter m):

$ pyxbindman -d "m:0x9 c:107"

Delete a mapping by its command name. Tab completes from a list of commands in .xbindkeysrc

$ pyxbindman -D chromium

List all mappings defined in ~/.xbindkeysrc

$ pyxbindman
"chromium" -> Control+Alt + c
"pidgin" -> Control+Alt + p
"mocp -G" -> m:0x0 + c:127
"gnome-terminal -e 'rtorrent'" -> Mod4 + t

Show a particular binding by its command name, keysym or keycode:

$ pyxbindman -s chromium
"chromium" -> Control+Alt + c
$ pyxbindman -s "Mod4 + p"
"pidgin" -> Control+Alt + p
$ pyxbindman -s "m:0x0 + c:127"
"mocp -G" -> m:0x0 + c:127

Without an argument -s gets a combination using a key-grabbing window:

$ pyxbindman -s 
"chromium" -> Mod4 + c

-c flag forces completion to come from commands in .xbindkeysrc rather than from $PATH (useful when you need to -change a command bound to a particular combination)

$ pyxbindman -c "chromium --incognito http://facebook.com"
Choose a combination to bind: 
Combination Mod4 + p selected

For invocations with each option you can provide path to .xbindkeysrc file using -f argument. It defines which file is being edited and used for getting completion options.

Show bindings in a file

$ pyxbindman -f ~/oldsystem_copy/.xbindkeysrc 

Add binding to a file

$ pyxbindman -f /home/anotheruser/.xbindkeysrc chromium "Mod + c"

Remove binding from a file $ pyxbindman -f /mnt/remote_host/.xbindkeysrc -D pidgin

... and so on.

Kill xbindkeys

$ pyxbindman -k

Restart xbindkeys

$ pyxbindman -r

If you like this utility a lot

If you would like to show your appreciation, I'd be glad to receive a good Linux game of your choosing in Steam : )

Here I am: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198038302973/