awmtt
awmtt (AwesomeWM Testing Tool) is a bash script that helps you test your Awesome configuration files.
It requires Xephyr, an Xorg-Application which can spawn a nested instance of xorg-server, allowing you to open multiple instances of Desktop Environments or Window Mangers like AwesomeWM.
Installation
ArchLinux users can find awmtt in the AUR.
Example Debian/Ubuntu manual installation:
sudo apt-get install xserver-xephyr
sudo wget -O /usr/bin/awmtt https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mikar/awmtt/master/awmtt.sh
sudo chmod a+x /usr/bin/awmttScreenshot
Here's an example of what it looks like:
Usage
awmtt start [-B <path>] [-C <path>] [-D <int>] [-S <size>] [-a <opt>]... [-x <opts>]
awmtt (stop [all] | restart)
awmtt run [-D <int>] <command>
awmtt theme (get | set <theme> | list | random) [-N]
Arguments:
start Spawn nested Awesome via Xephyr
stop Stops the last Xephyr process
all Stop all instances of Xephyr
restart Restart all instances of Xephyr
run <cmd> Run a command inside a Xephyr instance (specify which one with -D)
theme Some basic theming control via:
get Get current theme name
set <theme> Set theme to <theme>
list List available themes
random Set a random theme
Options:
-B|--binary <path> Specify path to awesome binary (for testing custom awesome builds)
-C|--config <path> Specify configuration file
-D|--display <int> Specify the display to use (e.g. 1)
-N|--notest Don't use a testfile but your actual rc.lua (i.e. $HOME/.config/awesome/rc.lua)
This happens by default if there is no rc.lua.test file.
-S|--size <size> Specify the window size
-a|--aopt <opt> Pass option to awesome binary (e.g. --no-argb or --check). Can be repeated.
-x|--xopts <opts> Pass options to xephyr binary (e.g. -keybd ephyr,,,xkblayout=de). Needs to be last.
-h|--help Show this help text and exit
Examples:
awmtt start (uses defaults: -C $HOME/.config/awesome/rc.lua.test -D 1 -S 1024x640)
awmtt start -C /etc/xdg/awesome/rc.lua -D 3 -S 1280x800 -x -keybd ephyr,,,xkbmodel=pc105,xkblayout=de,xkbrules=evdev,xkboption=grp:alts_toogle
awmtt theme set zenburn -N
Xephyr
Have a look at http://awesome.naquadah.org/wiki/Using_Xephyr and its documentation to learn more about how to use it.
For instance, you can press Control-Mod3-Shift to have Xephyr grab focus while inside the window so that you can't accidentally leave it. To let go, press Control-(Right-)Shift.