Move windows between screens in dual screen mode

Solution 1:

1. Script to swap all windows from screen 1 --> screen 2 and vice versa

The script assumes the screens are of the same vertical resolution, and the left screen is the primary one. The horizontal resolutions of both screens is searched by the script.

How to set up

The script needs wmctrl to be installed:

sudo apt-get install wmctrl

1. Copy the script below into an empty file, save it as swap_windows (no extension) in ~/.bin. Create the directory if it doesn't exist already, and make the script executable.
2. If you just created the directory ~/bin (it didn't exist yet), either log out/in or run in a terminal: source ~/.profile.

3. test run the script with the command:

   swap_windows
   

4. If all works as expected, add shortut key; choose: System Settings > "Keyboard" > "Shortcuts" > "Custom Shortcuts". Click the "+" and add the command

The script

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import subprocess
import sys

def get(cmd):
    return subprocess.check_output(["/bin/bash", "-c",  cmd]).decode("utf-8")

def get_shiftright(xr_output):
    lines = [l for l in xr_output.splitlines() if "+0+0" in l][0].split()
    return int([it for it in lines if "x" in it][0].split("x")[0])

def get_shiftleft(xr_output):
    lines = [l for l in xr_output.splitlines() if  "+0" in l and not "+0+0" in l][0].split()
    return -int([it for it in lines if "x" in it][0].split("x")[0])

def swap_windows():
    xr_output = get("xrandr")
    shift_r = get_shiftright(xr_output)
    shift_l = get_shiftleft(xr_output)
    w_data = [l.split() for l in get("wmctrl -lG").splitlines()]
    for w in w_data:
        props = get("xprop -id "+w[0])
        if any(["_TYPE_NORMAL" in props, "TYPE_DIALOG" in props]):    
            if 0 < int(w[2]) < shift_r:
                shift = shift_r
            elif shift_r-shift_l > int(w[2]) >= shift_r:
                shift = -shift_r
            else:
                shift = 0
            command = "wmctrl -ir "+w[0]+" -e 0,"+(",").join([str(int(w[2])+shift), str(int(w[3])-28), w[4], w[5]])
            subprocess.Popen(["/bin/bash", "-c", command])     
swap_windows()

2. Script to move (all) windows from one monitor to the other

The script below moves windows in a dual monitor setup from one screen to another, either:

• from the left to the right monitor -->

  or

• from the right to the left monitor <--

Depending on the argument you run it with (left or right)

The script (again) assumes the screens are of the same vertical resolution, and the left screen is the primary one. The horizontal resolutions of both screens is searched by the script.

How to set up

The script needs wmctrl to be installed:

sudo apt-get install wmctrl

1. Copy the script below into an empty file, save it as shift_windows (no extension) in ~/.bin. Create the directory if it doesn't exist already, and make the script executable.
2. If you just created the directory ~/bin (it didn't exist yet), either log out/in or run in a terminal: source ~/.profile.

3. test run the script with the commands

   shift_windows right
   

   and: shift_windows left

   In the first case, windows on your left screen should move to the right screen and in the second case vice versa.

4. If all works as expected, add the script to two shortcut combinations: choose: System Settings > "Keyboard" > "Shortcuts" > "Custom Shortcuts". Click the "+" and add the commands as explained above.

The script

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import subprocess
import sys

vec = sys.argv[1]

def get(cmd):
    return subprocess.check_output(["/bin/bash", "-c",  cmd]).decode("utf-8")

def get_shiftright(xr_output):
    lines = [l for l in xr_output.splitlines() if "+0+0" in l][0].split()
    return int([it for it in lines if "x" in it][0].split("x")[0])

def get_shiftleft(xr_output):
    lines = [l for l in xr_output.splitlines() if  "+0" in l and not "+0+0" in l][0].split()
    return -int([it for it in lines if "x" in it][0].split("x")[0])

def shift_windows():
    xr_output = get("xrandr")
    shift_r = get_shiftright(xr_output)
    shift_l = get_shiftleft(xr_output)
    w_data = [l.split() for l in get("wmctrl -lG").splitlines()]
    for w in w_data:
        props = get("xprop -id "+w[0])
        if vec == "right":
            check = (0 < int(w[2]) < shift_r, "_TYPE_NORMAL" in props, "TYPE_DIALOG" in props).count(True)
            shift = shift_r
        if vec == "left":
            check = (shift_r-shift_l > int(w[2]) >= shift_r , "_TYPE_NORMAL" in props, "TYPE_DIALOG" in props).count(True)
            shift = -shift_r
        if check == 2:
            command = "wmctrl -ir "+w[0]+" -e 0,"+(",").join([str(int(w[2])+shift), str(int(w[3])-28), w[4], w[5]])
            subprocess.Popen(["/bin/bash", "-c", command])
shift_windows()

3. Move a single window from one screen to another

Although not literally your question, with just a few lines more, you can either move all windows from one screen to the other, but also a single one (the frontmost) with a key combination.

With the script below, you can move all windows with the command:

shift_windows right

or move a single window with the command:

shift_windows right s

The setup is pretty much the same as the script above (don't forget to install wmctrl)

The script

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import subprocess
import sys

vec = sys.argv[1]
try:
    n = sys.argv[2]
except IndexError:
    n = "a"

def get(cmd):
    return subprocess.check_output(["/bin/bash", "-c",  cmd]).decode("utf-8")

def get_shiftright(xr_output):
    lines = [l for l in xr_output.splitlines() if "+0+0" in l][0].split()
    return int([it for it in lines if "x" in it][0].split("x")[0])

def get_shiftleft(xr_output):
    lines = [l for l in xr_output.splitlines() if  "+0" in l and not "+0+0" in l][0].split()
    return -int([it for it in lines if "x" in it][0].split("x")[0])

def shift_windows():
    xr_output = get("xrandr")
    shift_r = get_shiftright(xr_output)
    shift_l = get_shiftleft(xr_output)
    w_data = [l.split() for l in get("wmctrl -lG").splitlines()]
    if n == "s":
        frontmost = [l for l in get("xprop -root").splitlines() if "_NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW(WINDOW)" in l][0].split()[-1]
        frontmost = frontmost[:2]+"0"+frontmost[2:]
        w_data = [l for l in w_data if frontmost in l]
    for w in w_data:
        props = get("xprop -id "+w[0])
        if vec == "right":
            check = (0 < int(w[2]) < shift_r, "_TYPE_NORMAL" in props, "TYPE_DIALOG" in props).count(True)
            shift = shift_r
        if vec == "left":
            check = (shift_r-shift_l > int(w[2]) >= shift_r , "_TYPE_NORMAL" in props, "TYPE_DIALOG" in props).count(True)
            shift = -shift_r
        if check == 2:
            command = "wmctrl -ir "+w[0]+" -e 0,"+(",").join([str(int(w[2])+shift), str(int(w[3])-28), w[4], w[5]])
            subprocess.Popen(["/bin/bash", "-c", command])
shift_windows()