.\" generated with Ronn/v0.7.3
.\" http://github.com/rtomayko/ronn/tree/0.7.3
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.TH "I3BLOCKS" "1" "October 2014" "" ""
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.SH "NAME"
\fBi3blocks\fR \- A flexible scheduler for i3bar
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.SH "SYNOPSIS"
\fBi3blocks\fR [\-c \fIconfigfile\fR] [\-v]\.\.\. [\-h] [\-V]
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.SH "DESCRIPTION"
\fBi3blocks\fR allows to easily describe blocks in a simple format, and generate a status line for i3bar(1)\. It handles clicks, signals and time interval for user scripts\.
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.SH "OPTIONS"
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.TP
\fB\-c\fR \fIconfigfile\fR
Specifies an alternate configuration file path\. By default, i3blocks looks for configuration files in the following order (note that /etc may be prefixed with /usr/local depending on the compilation flags):
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.IP "" 4
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.nf

1\. ~/\.config/i3blocks/config (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/i3blocks/config if set)
2\. ~/\.i3blocks\.conf
3\. /etc/xdg/i3blocks/config (or $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/i3blocks/config if set)
4\. /etc/i3blocks\.conf
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.fi
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.IP "" 0

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.TP
\fB\-v\fR
Log level\. This option is cumulative\. By default, error messages are displayed on stderr\. Passed once, a failure during an update is shown within the block\. Passed twice enables the debug messages on stderr\.
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.TP
\fB\-V\fR
Print the version and exit\.
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.TP
\fB\-h\fR
Print the help message and exit\.
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.SH "CONFIGURATION"
The configuration file is an ini file\. Each section describes a new block\. A line beginning with a \fB#\fR sign is a comment, and empty lines are ignored\. A property is a \fBkey=value\fR pair per line, with no space around the equal sign\. Properties declared outside a block (i\.e\. at the beginning of the file) describe global settings\.
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.P
Here is an example config file:
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.IP "" 4
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.nf

# This is a comment
interval=5
color=#00FF00

[weather]
command=~/bin/weather\.pl
interval=1800

[time]
command=date +%T
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.fi
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.IP "" 0
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.P
To use i3blocks as your status line, define it in a \fIbar\fR block of your \fB~/i3/config\fR file:
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.IP "" 4
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.nf

bar {
  status_command i3blocks
}
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.fi
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.IP "" 0
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.SH "BLOCK"
The properties used to describe a block are the keys specified in the i3bar protocol \fIhttp://i3wm\.org/docs/i3bar\-protocol\.html\fR, plus additional properties used by \fBi3blocks\fR to describe when and how to update a block\. All the supported properties are described below\.
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.P
The following keys are standard, see http://i3wm\.org/docs/i3bar\-protocol\.html \fI\fR for details\.
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.IP "\(bu" 4
\fBfull_text\fR
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.IP "\(bu" 4
\fBshort_text\fR
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.IP "\(bu" 4
\fBcolor\fR
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.IP "\(bu" 4
\fBmin_width\fR
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.IP "\(bu" 4
\fBalign\fR
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.IP "\(bu" 4
\fBname\fR
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.IP "\(bu" 4
\fBinstance\fR
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.IP "\(bu" 4
\fBurgent\fR
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.IP "\(bu" 4
\fBseparator\fR
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.IP "\(bu" 4
\fBseparator_block_width\fR
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.IP "" 0
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.P
The following keys are specific to \fBi3blocks\fR\.
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.TP
\fBcommand\fR
The command executed by a shell, used to update the block\. The expected behavior is described below, in the \fICOMMAND\fR section\.
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.TP
\fBinterval\fR
If it is a positive integer, then the block is spawned on startup and the value is used as a time interval in seconds to schedule future updates\. If unspecified or 0, the block won\'t be executed on startup (which is useful to simulate buttons)\. If "once" (or \-1), the block will be executed only on startup (note that a click or signal will still trigger an update)\. If "repeat" (or \-2), the block will be spawned on startup, and as soon as it terminates (useful to repeat blocking commands)\. Use with caution!
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.TP
\fBsignal\fR
The signal number used to update the block\. All the real\-time (think prioritized and queueable) signals are available to the user\. The number is valid between 1 and N, where SIGRTMIN+N = SIGRTMAX\. (Note: there are 31 real\-time signals in Linux\.) For instance, \fBsignal=10\fR means that this block will be updated when \fBi3blocks\fR receives SIGRTMIN+10\.
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.TP
\fBlabel\fR
An optional label to preprend to the \fBfull_text\fR after an update\.
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.SH "COMMAND"
The value of the \fBcommand\fR key will be passed and executed as is by a shell\.
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.P
The standard output of the command line is used to update the block content\. Each non\-empty line of the output will overwrite the corresponding property:
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.IP "1." 4
full_text
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.IP "2." 4
short_text
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.IP "3." 4
color
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.IP "" 0
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.P
For example, this script sets the \fBfull_text\fR in blue but no \fBshort_text\fR:
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.IP "" 4
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.nf

echo "Here\'s my label"
echo
echo \e#0000FF
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.fi
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.IP "" 0
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.P
If the command line returns 0 or 33, the block is updated\. Otherwise, it is considered a failure and the first line (if any) is still displayed\. Note that stderr is ignored\. A return code of 33 will set the \fBurgent\fR flag to true\.
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.P
For example, this script prints the battery percentage and sets the urgent flag if it is below 10%:
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.IP "" 4
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.nf

BAT=`acpi \-b | grep \-E \-o \'[0\-9][0\-9]?%\'`

echo "BAT: $BAT"
test ${BAT%?} \-le 10 && exit 33 || exit 0
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.fi
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.IP "" 0
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.P
When forking a block command, \fBi3blocks\fR will set the environment with some \fBBLOCK_*\fR variables\. The following variables are always provided, with eventually an empty string as the value\.
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.TP
\fBBLOCK_NAME\fR
The name of the block (usually the section name)\.
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.TP
\fBBLOCK_INSTANCE\fR
An optional argument to the script\.
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.TP
\fBBLOCK_BUTTON\fR
Mouse button (1, 2 or 3) if the block was clicked\.
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.TP
\fBBLOCK_X\fR and \fBBLOCK_Y\fR
Coordinates where the click occured, if the block was clicked\.
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.P
Here is an example using the environment:
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.IP "" 4
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.nf

[block]
command=echo name=$BLOCK_NAME instance=$BLOCK_INSTANCE
interval=1

[clickme]
full_text=Click me!
command=echo button=$BLOCK_BUTTON x=$BLOCK_X y=$BLOCK_Y
min_width=button=1 x=1366 y=768
align=left
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.fi
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.IP "" 0
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.P
Note that \fBi3blocks\fR provides a set of optional scripts for convenience, such as network status, battery check, cpu load, volume, etc\.
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.SH "EXAMPLES"
As an example, here is a close configuration to i3status(1) default settings:
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.P
\fBTODO\fR
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.IP "" 4
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.nf

interval=5
signal=10

[ipv6]

[free]

[dhcp]

[vpn]

[wifi]

[ethernet]
min_width=E: 255\.255\.255\.255 (1000 Mbit/s)

[battery]

[cpu]

[datetime]
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.fi
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.IP "" 0
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.P
The following block shows the usage of \fBsignal\fR with some i3(1) bindings which adjust the volume, before issuing a \fBpkill \-RTMIN+1 i3blocks\fR:
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.IP "" 4
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.nf

[volume]
command=echo \-n \'Volume: \'; amixer get Master | grep \-E \-o \'[0\-9][0\-9]?%\'
interval=once
signal=1
# no interval, only check on SIGRTMIN+1
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.fi
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.IP "" 0
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.P
Here is an example of a very minimalist config, assuming you have a bunch of scripts under \fB~/bin/blocks/\fR with the same name as the blocks:
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.IP "" 4
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.nf

command=~/bin/blocks/$BLOCK_NAME
interval=1

[free]
[wifi]
[ethernet]
[battery]
[cpu]
[datetime]
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.fi
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.IP "" 0
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.SH "SEE ALSO"
The development of i3blocks takes place on Github \fIhttps://github\.com/vivien/i3blocks\fR\. The wiki \fIhttps://github\.com/vivien/i3blocks/wiki\fR is a good source of examples for blocks and screenshots\.
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.P
i3(1), i3bar(1), i3status(1)
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.SH "BUGS"
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.SS "Reporting Bugs"
Please report bugs on the issue tracker \fIhttps://github\.com/vivien/i3blocks/issues\fR\.
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.SS "Known Bugs"
None\.
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.SH "AUTHOR"
Written by Vivien Didelot \fIvivien\.didelot@gmail\.com\fR\.
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.SH "COPYRIGHT"
Copyright (C) 2014 Vivien Didelot \fIvivien\.didelot@gmail\.com\fR License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later \fIhttp://gnu\.org/licenses/gpl\.html\fR\.
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.P
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it\. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law\.