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3 │ Release notes for i3 v4.0.1 │
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6 This is the second release of the new major version of i3, v4.0.1. It has been
7 a long time since v3.ε was released (over one year). A lot has been happening
8 since then, we made 736 commits – compare that to the total number of 1664
11 The reason for the high number of commits and long time for this release is the
12 big refactoring we have been doing. Instead of using several lists and a table
13 as data structures, we now use a single tree of containers. These containers
14 represent invisible entities like your X11 root window, your different monitors
15 and workspaces, but also visible entities like actual windows.
17 Using a tree has made a lot of things cleaner and easier – in the code *and* in
18 the user interface. Admittedly though, you will probably need a day or two to
19 get used to a few more advanced movement commands if you are used to v3.ε right
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23 │ New features in v4.0.1 │
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26 • Fix the build process of i3bar
27 • Fix the build process on Mac OS X
28 • i3-config-wizard: also start i3bar in the keycode config template
29 • userguide: Remove the obsolete bar.* colors
30 • userguide: Use i3bar instead of dzen2 in the 'exec' example
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33 │ New features in v4.0 │
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36 • In addition to the proper flex/bison based parser for the config file
37 introduced in 3.δ, we now also have a flex/bison parser for commands. What
38 this means is that we can have more human-readable, beautiful command names
39 instead of cryptic commands like 'f' for fullscreen or 'mh' for move left.
40 In fact, the commands for the aforementioned functions *are* 'fullscreen'
43 • You can now chain commands using ';' (a semicolon). One example for that is
44 'workspace 3 ; exec /usr/bin/urxvt' to switch to a new workspace and open a
47 • You can specify which windows should be affected by your command by using
48 different criteria. A good example is '[class="Firefox"] kill' to get rid
49 of all Firefox windows.
51 • As the configuration file needs new commands (and a few options are
52 obsolete), you need to change it. To make this process a little bit easier
53 for you, this release comes with the script i3-migrate-config-to-v4. Just
54 run it on your current config file and it will spit out a v4 config file to
55 stdout. To make things even better, i3 automatically detects v3 config files
56 and calls that script, so you never end up with a non-working config :).
58 • Similarly to the criteria when using commands, we now have a 'for_window'
59 configuration directive, which lets you automatically apply certain commands
60 to certain windows. Use it to set border styles per window, for example with
61 'for_window [class="XTerm"] border 1pixel'.
63 • Since dock clients (like dzen2) are now part of the layout tree (as opposed
64 to a custom data structure as before), it was easy to implement top and
65 bottom dock areas. Programs which properly specify the dock hint get placed
66 on the edge of the screen they request. i3bar has the -dtop and -dbottom
67 parameters, for example.
69 • The internal workspace bar is obsolete. Use i3bar instead.
71 • Resizing now works between all windows!
73 • Fullscreen now works for everything!
75 • Floating now works for everything!
77 • Your layout is now preserved when doing an inplace restart.
79 • When you have an error in your config file, a new program called i3-nagbar
80 will tell you so. It offers you two buttons: One to view the error in your
81 $PAGER and one to edit your config in your $EDITOR.
83 • The default config used key symbols (like 'bind Mod1+f fullscreen') instead
84 of key codes. If you use a non-qwerty layout, the program i3-config-wizard
85 can create a key symbol based config file based on your current layout. You
86 can also chose between Windows (Mod4) and Alt (Mod1) as your default
87 modifier. i3-config-wizard will automatically be started as long as you
88 don’t have a configuration file for i3.
90 • Custom X cursor themes are now supported.
92 • The RandR backend now respects the primary output.
94 • A wrong 'font' configuration in your config file will no longer make i3
95 exit. Instead, it will fall back to a different font and tell you about the
98 • The default split direction (whether a new window gets placed right next to
99 the current one or below the current one) is now automatically set to
100 horizontal if you have a monitor that is wider than high or vertical if you
101 a monitor which is higher than wide. This works great with rotated monitors.
103 • Sockets and temporary files are now placed in XDG_RUNTIME_DIR, if set (this
104 is used on systemd based systems).
106 • Tools like i3bar, i3-msg etc. use the I3_SOCKET_PATH property which is set
107 to the X11 root window, so you don’t have to configure your socket path
110 • The kill command kills single windows by default now. To kill a whole
111 application, use 'kill client'.
113 • IPC: Commands can now have custom replies. When the parser encounters an
114 error, a proper error reply is sent.
116 • There is now an 'exec_always' configuration directive which works like
117 'exec' but will also be run when restarting.
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123 Our plans were big but our time and manpower is limited. Therefore, the
124 following features did not make it into this release. However, the foundation
125 is now in place and implementing them is possible, so stay tuned!
127 • Saving/Restoring specific parts of your layout
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137 Thanks for testing, bugfixes, discussions and everything I forgot go out to:
139 aniou, artoj, badboy, cloud, cradle, David Coppa, dbp, dothebart, eeemsi,
140 eelvex, f8l, fernando, jan, jimdigriz, jon, julien, kacper, ktosiek,
141 lexszero, litemotiv, lourens, madroach, marcus, merovius, mike, mirko, mseed,
142 mxf, phnom, quaec, rogutes, sardemff7, smartass, thepub, tiago, tucos,
145 -- Michael Stapelberg, 2011-08-01