Introduction
The script bellow waits for user-defined device to be connected and sets appropriate values , continuously repeating the process , thus allowing the user to connect and disconnect device multiple time during session.
It reads user - defined settings in ~/.xinputmonrc file, which must be created before launching the script
Usage
As shown by -h option:
usage: xinput_monitor.py [-h] [-q] -d DEVICE
Script that waits for presence of user device and sets preferences as defined in
~/.xinputmonrc file
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-q, --quiet Blocks on-screen notifications
-d DEVICE, --device DEVICE
device name
NOTE: As stated in the description, the file reads ~/.xinputmonrc where ~ is your home directory. Example of such file (note array usage for properties that require multiple values):
{
"Device Accel Constant Deceleration":5,
"Evdev Scrolling Distance":[1,1,1]
}
Suppose we have Logitech USB Receiver device listed in xinput output. The script can be called like so:
python3 xinput_monitor.py -d "Logitech USB Receiver"
The script will issue a notification that monitoring has started:
Once the device is connected, it will issue notification that device has been detected:
If everything is OK , the script proceeds silently and waits till device is disconnected：
The -q option allows silencing all the notification bubbles.
Obtaining the script
The source code is available in this post and as Gist on Github
You can copy the source code from here, save it as xinput_monitor.py , and make executable with chmod +x xinput_monitor.py terminal command in whichever directory you saved it.
Source code
#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
"""
Author: Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Date: August 2nd, 2016
Written for: https://askubuntu.com/q/806212/295286
Tested on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
usage: xinput_monitor.py [-h] [-q] -d DEVICE
Script that waits for presence of user device
and sets preferences as defined
in ~/.xinputmonrc file
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-q, --quiet Blocks on-screen notifications
-d DEVICE, --device DEVICE
device name
"""
from __future__ import print_function
import gi
gi.require_version('Notify', '0.7')
from gi.repository import Notify
import subprocess
import argparse
import time
import json
import os
def send_notif(n,title, text):
try:
if Notify.init(__file__):
# n = Notify.Notification.new("Notify")
n.update(title, text)
n.set_urgency(2)
if not n.show():
raise SyntaxError("sending notification failed!")
else:
raise SyntaxError("can't initialize notification!")
except SyntaxError as error:
print(error)
if error == "sending notification failed!":
Notify.uninit()
else:
Notify.uninit()
def run_cmd(cmdlist):
""" Reusable function for running shell commands"""
try:
stdout = subprocess.check_output(cmdlist)
except subprocess.CalledProcessError as pserror:
return pserror.output.decode().strip()
#sys.exit(1)
else:
if stdout:
return stdout.decode().strip()
def list_ids(mouse_name):
""" Returns list of ids for the same device"""
#while True:
mouse_ids = []
for dev_id in run_cmd(['xinput','list','--id-only']).split('\n'):
if mouse_name in run_cmd(['xinput','list','--name-only',dev_id]):
mouse_ids.append(dev_id)
return mouse_ids
def read_config_file(notif):
""" reads ~/.xinputmonrc file """
rcfile = os.path.join( os.path.expanduser('~'),'.xinputmonrc')
try:
with open(rcfile) as config_file:
config_data = json.load(config_file)
except IOError as error:
send_notif(notif, __file__ , error.__repr__() )
else:
if config_data:
return config_data
def set_props(notif,device):
"""Sets properties per each device is
given by list_ids() function"""
props = read_config_file(notif)
# Thiscan also be set manually as in
# commented-out example below
#props = { 'Device Accel Profile':'-1',
# 'Device Accel Constant Deceleration':'3.5',
# 'Device Accel Velocity Scaling':'1.0' }
if not props:
send_notif(notif,'Reading ~/.xinputmonrc failed',
'Please write proper rc file.')
return None
""" set all property-value pair per each device id
Uncomment the print function if you wish to know
which ids have been altered for double-checking
with xinput list-props"""
for dev_id in list_ids(device):
# print(dev_id)
for prop,value in props.items():
if type(value) is not list:
value = [value]
run_cmd(['xinput','set-prop',dev_id,prop] +
[str(item) for item in value ])
def parse_args():
""" Parse command line arguments"""
arg_parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
description="""Script that waits for """ +
"""presence of user device """+
"""and sets preferences as """ +
"""defined in ~/.xinputmonrc file""")
arg_parser.add_argument(
'-q','--quiet', action='store_true',
help='Blocks on-screen notifications',
required=False)
arg_parser.add_argument(
'-d','--device',
help='device name',
type=str,
required=True)
return arg_parser.parse_args()
def main():
notif = Notify.Notification.new("Notify")
args = parse_args()
while True:
if not args.quiet:
send_notif(notif, __file__ ,
'Wating for ' + args.device )
while args.device not in run_cmd(['xinput','list','--name-only']):
time.sleep(0.25)
pass
time.sleep(0.25) # let xinput catch up
if not args.quiet:
send_notif(notif, __file__,
args.device + ' connected. Setting values')
# set props here
set_props(notif,args.device)
while args.device in run_cmd(['xinput','list','--name-only']):
time.sleep(0.25)
pass
if not args.quiet:
send_notif( notif , __file__ , args.device +
' disconnected. Resuming monitoring' )
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()
Notes
- Multiple instances can be started to monitor multiple devices but this is not recommended because multiple instances read the same config file.
- Script is
python 3 and python 2 compatible, can run with either.
- Consult How can I edit/create new launcher items in Unity by hand? for creating a launcher or desktop shortcut for this script , if you desire to launch it with double-click
- In order to link this script to a keyboard shortcut for easy access, consult How to add keyboard shortcuts?
