[xmonad] How to prefix workspace names with numbers?

[Jacek Generowicz]

Pablo Olmos de Aguilera C. writes:

> On 9 October 2012 04:18, Jacek Generowicz <jacek.generowicz at cern.ch> wrote:

>> *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.

My top notification bar contains workspace names (19 of them, just now)
and the layout name. Nothing else. (Hmm, I could probably do without tha
layout name.)

This bar lists, from left to right

+ The currently active workspace, in white
+ The workspace visible on the other monitor, in grey
+ The rest, in most-to-least recently visited order, red for empty ones,
  green otherwise

> I tried to use DWS and every new workspace is added before
> the first one (which seems a bit odd to me)

Hint:

myDzenPP = defaultPP
  {
  ....
  , ppSort = getSortByMyRule
  }

Go to town!

> and after a while dzen was totally filled, so I couldn't keep track of
> everything.

Well, yes, as the number of workspaces grows, it does become more
difficult to keep track of things. But it's much *more* difficult to
keep track of all those things if you have to stuff them all on a mere 7
workspaces with names like 'files' and 'various'.

> you never turn off your computer do you?

Hardware upgrades are always dark days.

(OK, ok, I also have to reboot because of software updates every now and
then.)

But seriously, rebooting my computer feels like taking all my belongings
out of my house and then putting them back into place. I can't fathom
why anyone would want to do that voluntarily.

> Actually I use tmux + vim

... to do the job of XMonad, it would seem.

>> 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.

I'd rather not paste my *whole* config (at least not before a clean up,
and I don't have time for that at the moment). Have a look at what I
posted for Hans, and ask if you want any clarification or further info.

>> 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.

Thanks for your kind words. They brightened up my morning.

> I honestly have been working for a couple of months and I'm very
> comfortable with the setup that I got right now :)

Well, that's what matters. We all have different styles and habits. I'm
sure that what works for me will be completely wrong for many others.