nwg-bar

This application is a part of the nwg-shell project.

Contributing: please read the general contributing rules for the nwg-shell project.

nwg-bar is a Golang replacement to the nwgbar command (a part of nwg-launchers), with some improvements. Originally aimed at sway, works with wlroots-based compositors only.

The nwg-bar command creates a button bar on the basis of a JSON template placed in the ~/.config/nwg-bar/ folder. By default the command displays a horizontal bar in the center of the screen. Use command line arguments to change the placement.

Installation

Requirements

• go 1.20
• gtk3
• gtk-layer-shell

Steps

1. Clone the repository, cd into it.
2. Install golang libraries with make get. First time it may take ages, be patient.
3. make build
4. sudo make install

If your machine is x86_64, you may skip 2 and 3, and just install the provided binary with sudo make install.

To uninstall run sudo make uninstall.

Running

Usage of nwg-bar:
  -a string
    	Alignment in full width/height: "start" or "end" (default "middle")
  -f	take Full screen width/height
  -i int
    	Icon size (default 48)
  -mb int
    	Margin Bottom
  -ml int
    	Margin Left
  -mr int
    	Margin Right
  -mt int
    	Margin Top
  -o string
    	name of Output to display the bar on
  -p string
    	Position: "bottom", "top", "left" or "right" (default "center")
  -s string
    	csS file name (default "style.css")
  -t string
    	Template file name (default "bar.json")
  -v	display Version information
  -x	open on top layer witch eXclusive zone

NOTE: for now the -o argument works on sway only.

Templates

Templates in JSON format should be placed in the ~/.config/nwg-bar folder. The default bar.json template creates sample Exit menu for sway on Arch Linux. You may adjust it to your system, and also add as many other templates, as you need. Use the -t somename.json argument to specify the template name to use.

[
 {
   "label": "Lock",
   "exec": "swaylock -f -c 000000",
   "icon": "/usr/share/nwg-bar/images/system-lock-screen.svg"
 },
 {
   "label": "Logout",
   "exec": "swaymsg exit",
   "icon": "/usr/share/nwg-bar/images/system-log-out.svg"
 },
 {
   "label": "Reboot",
   "exec": "systemctl reboot",
   "icon": "/usr/share/nwg-bar/images/system-reboot.svg"
 },
 {
   "label": "Shutdown",
   "exec": "systemctl -i poweroff",
   "icon": "/usr/share/nwg-bar/images/system-shutdown.svg"
 }
]

• label field defines the button label;
• exec field defines the command to execute on button click;
• icon field specifies the button icon; you may use a system icon name, like e.g. system-lock-screen, or a path to .svg/.png file.

Use labels with underscores (like _Lock, _Reboot') to create keyboard shortcuts to the buttons. You will be able to access them with the Alt` key.

Styling

Edit the ~/.config/nwg-bar/style.css file to change the bar appearance. You may also specify another .css file (in the same folder) with the -s somename.css argument.