youssef-attai / fwif

A Python framework for building floating window applications

fwif

This is a failed attempt to creating my own implementation of something like rofi. The main goal was to create a simple framework that enables me to easily build floating GUIs for any tool or utility I might need in my dev workflow. The reason it's a "failed attempt" is because of its shitty performance. If you think you can help I'd be forever grateful.

fwif (floating window framework) is a Python framework that enables easy development of floating window applications using X11. It provides a high-level abstraction for building applications entirely in Python, while leveraging inter-process communication (IPC) to interact with the underlying window layer implemented in C.

Features

• Designed for Tiling Window Manager Users: fwif sets the necessary window manager (WM) attributes for your applications to make them appear as floating windows in tiling window managers like i3, qtile, etc.

• Keyboard-driven: Your fwif applications are keyboard-driven, you can easily associate keybindings with the different functions of your application.

• Simple UI: fwif offers a straightforward user interface design approach. Components in fwif are just basic rectangles, making it effortless to combine them to achieve the desired user interface.

• Flexible Component System: Each component in fwif is represented by a JSON object, allowing you to define the structure and properties of your UI elements in a hierarchical manner.

• Efficient Key Press Handling: fwif employs an efficient key press handling mechanism inspired by Vim. Define key bindings for specific actions or functions, and fwif will intelligently interpret user input.

Getting Started

To get started with fwif, follow these steps:

1. Install the framework by running the following command:

   pip install fwif
   

2. Import the BaseApp class from the framework in your Python code:

   from fwif import BaseApp

3. Create a subclass of BaseApp to define your custom application.

4. Override the setup_keybindings method to add your custom keybindings:

   class MyApp(BaseAPp):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()
   
    def setup_keybindings(self):
        super().setup_keybindings()
        self.keybindings.add('h', self.hello)
   
    def hello(self):
        print("Hello, World!")

5. Run your application by instantiating your subclass and calling the run() method:

   app = MyApp()
   app.run()

For more details, please refer to the example provided.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you find any issues, have suggestions, or want to contribute new features or improvements, please feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more information.