1

I use mouse and keyboard sharing between a number of computers. The mouse can't put pressure against the side to bring up the menu. The keyboard shortcut at times interferes with other computers. So what if there is a commandline option to bring up the launcher I can program a usable interface to use the launcher?

Thanks in advance for any help.

If someone knows of a way to have a script emulate a keyboard shortcut that should work, I could call the Super Key shortcut from the script.

edwinksl
  • 23,789
L. D. James
  • 25,036
  • 1
    http://xmodulo.com/simulate-key-press-mouse-movement-linux.html – Elder Geek Sep 12 '16 at 19:49
  • 1
    This is what I was looking for. Add the information to your answer and I'll mark it accepted. Edit: I see you already have... thanks! – L. D. James Sep 12 '16 at 19:54
  • 1
    It's well possible to make a script. I'll post that once i have access to my computer. Basically you just want keyboard shortcut that does on/off action, right ? – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy Sep 12 '16 at 22:00
  • Also, I've written an indicator that has such function, so if you prefer an on-screen control, maybe that's better for you. See this https://github.com/SergKolo/launcher-list-indicator – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy Sep 12 '16 at 22:02
  • @Serg Thanks. I already have an indicator... kind of crude. I just added a menu item called Launchunity: xdotool key super. I'll look at yours for added impressionism. – L. D. James Sep 12 '16 at 22:16

2 Answers2

3

I know this isn't the answer you asked for but it will resolve the problem. Go to Settings, Appearance, Behaviour and turn off auto-hide the launcher as shown below. Problem solved.

If you need more real estate for your desktop turn on Enable workspaces as well (as you see checked below) you can switch between them with Ctrl and the arrow keys. On my system this resulted in increasing my workspace by a factor of 12 without the need to purchase additional screens.

You can also launch applications by bringing up the application lens via SuperA (the Super key is between the left Ctrl and left Alt keys on my keyboard. It may be the same on yours.

If you want to simulate keypresses you could try xdotool which you can install via sudo apt-get install xdotool

auto-hide-off

Sources: Experience

http://xmodulo.com/simulate-key-press-mouse-movement-linux.html

Elder Geek
  • 36,023
  • 25
  • 98
  • 183
  • Thanks. I should have mentioned in my question that I'm aware of the autohide. I'm trying not to loose the screen real estate. The multiple monitors is so that I can have as much work space as possible. – L. D. James Sep 12 '16 at 19:28
  • Updated answer. – Elder Geek Sep 12 '16 at 19:36
  • The purpose of my multiple screen is to have visibility at a glance of the various window. Popping the Launcher up would be a nice addition to bring up applications. I currently use cairo-dock (which hides when not in use). Hopefully I'll be able to get the Launcher up by clicking something. I find Unity's button search invaluable. – L. D. James Sep 12 '16 at 19:45
  • You could choose a different Desktop Environment. I seem to recall there are some that use a Right-click menu system. – Elder Geek Sep 12 '16 at 19:47
2

Pressing Super key alone, should bring up the Dash with the launcher. But here's a script that toggles the unity launcher visibility on/off, which can be used to bring up and keep launcher there on demand. 

#!/usr/bin/env bash

status=$( gsettings get org.compiz.unityshell:/org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/unityshell/ launcher-hide-mode )

new_status=0

if [ $status -eq 1 ]
then
    new_status=0
else
    new_status=1
fi

gsettings set org.compiz.unityshell:/org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/unityshell/ launcher-hide-mode $new_status

Simply bind that script as shortcut, and each time that shortcut is activated, the script will either hide or unhide the launcher. Instructions for binding a script to shortcut can be found here: https://askubuntu.com/a/331632/295286

Community
  • 1
Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
  • 105,154
  • 20
  • 279
  • 497