Scratchpad terminal

Key binding and ManageHook to pop up a small, floating terminal window for a few quick commands.

Combined with a utility like detach[1], makes a great X application launcher.

Requires my two new ManageHooks (doRectFloat, specifically).

[1] http://detach.sourceforge.net

XMonad/Util/Scratchpad.hs

@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+-- |
+-- Module      :  XMonad.Util.Scratchpad
+-- Copyright   :  (c) Braden Shepherdson 2008
+-- License     :  BSD-style (as xmonad)
+--
+-- Maintainer  :  Braden.Shepherdson@gmail.com
+-- Stability   :  unstable
+-- Portability :  unportable
+--
+-- Very handy hotkey-launched floating terminal window.
+--
+-- A tool like detach (<http://detach.sourceforge.net>) turns it
+-- into a launchpad for X apps.
+--
+-- By default, your xmonad terminal is used, and mod+s is the hotkey.
+-- The default ManageHook uses a centered, half-screen-wide, 
+-- quarter-screen-tall window.
+-- The key, position and size are configurable.
+--
+-- The terminal application must support the @-title@ argument.
+-- Known supported terminals: rxvt, rxvt-unicode, xterm.
+-- Most others are likely to follow the lead set by xterm. 
+-- 
+-- Add the following to your xmonad.hs keybindings to use the default mod+s:
+--
+-- > scratchpadSpawnDefault conf
+--
+-- Or specify your own key binding, with the action:
+--
+-- > scratchpadSpawnAction conf
+-- 
+-- And add one of the @scratchpadManageHook*@s to your ManageHook list.
+-- The default rectangle is half the screen wide and a quarter of the
+-- screen tall, centered.
+-- 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+module XMonad.Util.Scratchpad (
+  scratchpadSpawnDefault
+  ,scratchpadSpawnAction
+  ,scratchpadManageHookDefault
+  ,scratchpadManageHook
+  ) where
+
+import XMonad
+import XMonad.Core
+import XMonad.Hooks.ManageHelpers (doRectFloat)
+import qualified XMonad.StackSet
+
+
+
+-- | Complete key binding. Pops up the terminal on mod+s.
+scratchpadSpawnDefault :: XConfig Layout -- ^ The configuration, to retrieve terminal and modMask
+                       -> ((KeyMask, KeySym), X ())
+scratchpadSpawnDefault conf = ((modMask conf, xK_s), scratchpadSpawnAction conf)
+
+
+-- | Action to pop up the terminal, for the user to bind to a custom key.
+scratchpadSpawnAction :: XConfig Layout -- ^ The configuration, to retrieve the terminal
+                      -> X ()
+scratchpadSpawnAction conf = spawn $ terminal conf ++ " -title scratchpad"
+
+
+
+-- | The ManageHook, with the default rectangle:
+-- Half the screen wide, a quarter of the screen tall, centered.
+scratchpadManageHookDefault :: ManageHook
+scratchpadManageHookDefault = scratchpadManageHook scratchpadDefaultRect
+
+
+-- | The ManageHook, with a user-specified StackSet.RationalRect.
+scratchpadManageHook :: XMonad.StackSet.RationalRect -- ^ User-specified screen rectangle.
+                     -> ManageHook
+scratchpadManageHook rect = title =? "scratchpad" --> doRectFloat rect
+
+
+scratchpadDefaultRect :: XMonad.StackSet.RationalRect
+scratchpadDefaultRect = XMonad.StackSet.RationalRect 0.25 0.375 0.5 0.25
+
+

xmonad-contrib.cabal

@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@ library
                         XMonad.Util.Loggers
                         XMonad.Util.NamedWindows
                         XMonad.Util.Run
+                        XMonad.Util.Scratchpad
                         XMonad.Util.Themes
                         XMonad.Util.Timer
                         XMonad.Util.WorkspaceCompare