Hows to set Skype shortcut for opening existing instance?

I'm using Linux for about two years now, but due to my Windows legacy I like keeping icons on my desktop instead of docks, panel shortcuts, etc.

If Skype is already running, pressing the shortcut starts a new sequence rather than opening an existing one. This is kinda cool as you can have two accounts running. But I only have one.

So, my question is whether it is possible to tweak Skype into opening an already existent instance when pressing the shortcut?

Solution 1:

A user, jackwizard, over at the Skype forums found a workaround. His script is mirrored at github, and copied here for your convenience.

1. Copy it into a file called skype-single-instance
2. Make it executable. chmod +x skype-single-instance
3. Test it. pkill -9 skype, then ./skype-single-instance, then ./skype-single-instance
4. Make it available system-wide. sudo cp skype-single-instance /usr/bin/
5. Change your shortcuts to use it instead of the normal skype command.

.

#!/usr/bin/env python
import dbus
import sys
import os

try:
    # Try and set skype window to normal
    remote_bus = dbus.SessionBus()
    out_connection = remote_bus.get_object('com.Skype.API', '/com/Skype')
    out_connection.Invoke('NAME mySkypeController')
    out_connection.Invoke('PROTOCOL 5')
    #out_connection.Invoke('SET WINDOWSTATE MAXIMIZED')
    out_connection.Invoke('SET WINDOWSTATE NORMAL')
    out_connection.Invoke('FOCUS')
except:
    os.system("skype")
    sys.exit()