[xmonad] How to prefix workspace names with numbers?

[Carlos López Camey]

2012/10/10 Pablo Olmos de Aguilera C. <pablo at glatelier.org>:
> On 9 October 2012 04:18, Jacek Generowicz <jacek.generowicz at cern.ch> wrote:
>>
>> Pablo Olmos de Aguilera C. writes:
>>
>>> First, I'd question myself why I would want to create workspaces on
>>> the fiy :P,
>>
>> Really !?
>
> I started laughing here....

FWIW, I would like a setup where I can use Actions.CycleWS functions
without going through empty workspaces. This could be
simulated with workspaces on the fly.

>>> and then "keep them" enough time to make your issue relevant. I always
>>> imagined dynamicworkspaces as a complement to create "short-lived"
>>> workspaces.
>>
>> DynamicWorkspaces has made my use of computers bearable.
>>
>> *Everything* I do, gets its own Dynamic workspace:
>>
>> + Letter to Aunt Mabel: open a new workspace;
>> + fiddle with my XMonad config: new workspace;
>> + Order a book/toaster/monitor: new workspace;
>> + try to solve my dropped network connection problem: new workspace;
>> + install some software: new workspace;
>> + fix bug #7364: new workspace;
>> + draw a new logo for the Worm Appreciation Society: new workspace;
>> + the new course I am writing: its own workspace
>> + topic I want to read up on and experiment with for the new course: new
>>   workspace. In reality, many workspaces, because I will want to
>>   investigate many different topics.
>
> That's sounds great. I don't understand how (or where) in the screen
> you can list all those workspaces without going crazy or memorizing
> everything. I tried to use DWS and every new workspace is added before
> the first one (which seems a bit odd to me) and after a while dzen was
> totally filled, so I couldn't keep track of everything.
>
>> The fact that I can have all windows related to some activity grouped
>> together on a workspace, not interfering with those related to other
>> activities, combined with the ability to SWITCH TO THAT WORKSPACE IN
>> UNDER A SECOND, regardless of whether it was last visited seconds ago or
>> weeks ago, is one of the hugest boons to my productivity I have ever
>> experienced.
>>
>> Having these workspaces have names I make up on the fly, makes it very
>> easy to remember what is what.
>>
>> The real world has this habit of not letting me finish whatever I am
>> doing without interruption. I have to task switch between many things.
>> Some tasks last mere seconds, some take weeks or months. The ability to
>> have a workspace dedicated to each of these tasks and to switch between
>> the contexts they create at almost zero cost, and the concomitant
>> confidence this brings in being able to switch away from some context in
>> the knowledge that when I get around to resuming this task (be it 5
>> seconds from now or 3 weeks from now) everything will be waiting for me
>> exactly as I left it, is what make my modern use of computers bearable.
>
> I agree... you never turn off your computer do you?
>
>>> In my case I keep 7 "fixed" WS:
>>
>> Frankly, I don't see how you manage with only 7 workspaces.
>>
>>> 1:terms, 2:web, 3:coding, 4:files, 5:media, 6:various, 7:im.
>>
>> Coding? Just one workspace for coding? You can seriously fit *all* the
>> windows related to *all* the coding tasks you are currently working on,
>> on to a *sigle* workspace?  Remember that 'currenly' includes
>>
>> + the speculative refactoring of the frobnicator in the Fubar project,
>>   which you've been playing with in your spare moments over the last week
>> + the showstopping segfault that your PHB/lover/most important client
>>   *needs* solving *this minute*.
>> + the new feature you have been working on as your main coding task for
>>   the last 2 days
>> + that damned bug #7364 which you've been chipping away at for the last
>>   month
>> + your experiments with the new feature introduced by the latest release
>>   of some language/package you use
>> + the code samples you are creating to help new people joining the Barfoo
>>   project, get going quickly
>
> Actually I use tmux + vim and I'm really happy with it. Normally I
> code for myself or little projects so I've never found with some of
> the use cases you said before. Anyway, I get the point :).
>
>> Each of these is likely to contain
>>
>> + Editor window
>> + compilation/evaluation/running/tsting window(s)
>> + documentation window
>> + miscellaneous related web search window
>
> Tmux + tmuxinator <3.
>
>> All that, one one 'coding' workspace? Really?
>>
>> (If you don't like coding, similar examples can be made in whatever
>> domain you like.)
>>
>> Files? Various? Aah, takes me back to the Dark Ages before I got my
>> hands on DynamicWorkspaces.
>
> Here I was like ROFLMAO.
>
>> Working with a window manager without Dynamic Workspaces, to me, looks
>> like working on a filesystem without mkdir and rmdir, where you
>> determine the directories you get when you configure your OS.
>>
>>> They are called that way, so it's easy to use the number to jump
>>> between them
>>
>> I have 3 keys for workspace navigation (and some related ones for screen
>> navigation)
>>
>> + Select workspace by name Automatically switches when unique starting
>>   substring is entered: this means that most workspace switches take just
>>   two keystrokes. And I don't have to remember that, say, files is 4: I
>>   just have to remember that files starts with 'f' (or, in extremis, 'fi').
>> + Select most recently used invisible workspace (very useful).
>> + Cycle through (I almost never use this one)
>>
>> On most of these I also have the following modifiers
>>
>> + SHIFT: send the focused window to the target workspace (keep focus on
>>   the source workspace)
>> + CONTROL: carry the focused window to the target workspace (move focus
>>   to the target workspace)
>
> Well, I couldn't imagined how to do that, so I've never tried too. It
> would be awesome if you can post your complete config file in
> paste-like service like gist or pastebin. It could help me to evolve
> from those medieval times.
>
>> You can pry my DynamicWorkspaces from my cold dead fingers.
>
> ... I was still laughing here. Thanks for your time, it was an AWESOME
> email, you should post it somewhere else.
>
> I honestly have been working for a couple of months and I'm very
> comfortable with the setup that I got right now :)
>
> Regards,
> --
> Pablo Olmos de Aguilera Corradini - @PaBLoX
> http://www.glatelier.org/
> http://about.me/pablox/
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/pablooda/
> Linux User: #456971 - http://counter.li.org/
>
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