How to split a monitor in two and switch left and right workspaces independently?

[dumbbell]

Hi!

I have an ultra wide monitor that is connected to the computer using two cables, then I use Picture-by-picture to present this single monitor as two monitors from the OS point of view. This allows me to use and switch workspaces independently on each "monitor" (i.e. monitor halves).

Is there a way to achieve the same behaviour with a single monitor and workspace split? I mean, can I switch the right side of a split to another workspace withour changing the workspace on the left side?

I tried window pinning as well, but it doesn’t provide the behaviour I’m looking for. So far, I couldn’t find a way to implement the behaviour I get with two physical monitors.

[dawsers]

Yes, use workspace split. In the default configuration, there are some key bindings already defined:

    # Split a workspace in two
mode "wssplit" {
    bindsym 1 workspace split v 0.25 10; mode default
    bindsym Shift+1 workspace split h 0.25 10; mode default
    bindsym 2 workspace split v 0.333333333 10; mode default
    bindsym Shift+2 workspace split h 0.333333333 10; mode default
    bindsym 3 workspace split v 0.5 10; mode default
    bindsym Shift+3 workspace split h 0.5 10; mode default
    bindsym 4 workspace split v 0.66666667 10; mode default
    bindsym Shift+4 workspace split h 0.6666667 10; mode default
    bindsym 5 workspace split v 0.75 10; mode default
    bindsym Shift+5 workspace split h 0.75 10; mode default
    bindsym r workspace split reset; mode default;

    # Return to default mode
    bindsym Escape mode "default"
}
bindsym $mod+Shift+backslash mode "wssplit"

They let you split any monitor in two, using the fraction you choose for the split point, either horizontally (good for a landscape monitor) or vertically (portrait mode monitor). This will create two workspaces seen simultaneously in that monitor. You can use those workspaces independently, even full screen will work as two independent monitors. You can also remove the arrangement using workspace split reset at any moment, recovering the full monitor workspaces.

man 5 scroll for more details.

[dumbbell]

Thank you for the quick reply!

I tried workspace split from the command line before asking. In my test, it split workspace 2 into workspace 2 on the left and workspace 3 on the right.

I couldn’t find how to change workspace 3 to e.g. workspace 4 on the right without hiding workspace 2 on the left. When I switched to workspace 4, both workspace 2 and 3 were hidden and workspace 4 took the entire monitor space.

Is there a command to switch only half of the split?

[dawsers]

Split will split the workspace, not the monitor, so you can have both full size and split workspaces on the same monitor (for flexibility). But you can still move any workspace to your split configuration, by using swap

For example, if you want to replace 3 by 4 on half the split, you would select 3, and call workspace swap 4 ($mod+Ctrl+4). Workspace 4 will take the place of workspace 3, and 3 of 4 (in the unsplit configuration).

[dumbbell]

Thank you, it works :-) I will try to write a configuration that maps Meta+$number to workspace swap.

[dumbbell]

@dawsers: I'm writing a Lua script to implement the logic I described. However, I can't swap with a workspace that doesn't exist because the target workspace doesn't have windows yet.

Is there a way to create a missing workspace from a Lua script?

[dawsers]

Is there a way to create a missing workspace from a Lua script?

Workspaces only exist when you add some window to them, or, if they are empty, when they are active (focused). If you unfocus an empty workspace, it gets deleted. It is like garbage collection for workspaces.

So, you can either make sure the workspace number you want to create gets focus (by calling workspace number n, or make sure a workspace is split every time something gets created in that monitor if it is not, depending on what you are looking for.

You have several functions you can use for those tasks, whichever way to make it work you choose: scroll.workspace_get_split(workspace), scroll.command(nil, "workspace number xx"), or adding a callback to "view_map" or "view_focus".