monitor_layout

A tool for specifying monitor layout on Linux.

Installation

Pre-requisites

• PHP 7.2+

Setup

• Extract the tool.

Usage

layout

monitor_layout layout <config_file.yaml>

Will load config_file.yaml and attempt to lay out all attached screens following the layout rules.

monitor

monitor_layout monitor <config_file.yaml> [--interval=5]

Will load config_file.yaml and attempt to lay out all attached screens following the layout rules.

The program will stay running and attempt to perform layout again every interval seconds in order to respond to screens being attached/unattached.

Configuration

Screens

screens:
	internal:
		output: eDP-1-1
	hdmi:
		output:
			- HDMI-1-1
			- HDMI-1-2
	usb:
		output: DVI-I-2-1

Each screen provides a single logical resource for dealing with your display in various configurations. The program will enumerate the outputs specified until it finds one that is connected, and that screen will refer to that output. This allows for, example, allowing connecting a display to any of a variety of outputs and having it treated as a single logical screen.

Layouts

layouts:
	all_screens:
		screens:
			internal: null
			hdmi: null
			usb:
				width: 1920
				height: 1080
		links:
			- display: hdmi
			  right_of: internal
			- display: usb
			  above: hdmi
	hdmi_only:
		screens:
			internal: null
			hdmi: null
		links:
			- display: hdmi
			  right_of: internal

Layouts are evaluated in the order listed. The first layout found where all the listed screens are available (that is, xrandr shows them as connected) will be used.

The selected layout can specify additional parameters (e.g., width and height) for the screen.

The links will be used to calculate the offsets of all the displays relative to whichever screen is considered primary by xrandr. Valid relations are:

• above - above the referenced display, centered horizontally
• below - below the referenced display, centered horizontally
• left_of - to the left of the referenced display, with the tops aligned
• right_of - to the right of the referenced display, with the tops aligned

Sample

screens:
  hdmi:
    output: HDMI-1-2
  touchpad:
    output: HDMI-1-1
  internal:
    output: eDP-1-1
  usb:
    output:
      - DVI-I-2-1
      - DVI-I-2-2
      - DVI-I-2-3
      - DVI-I-2-4
      - DVI-I-2-5
      - DVI-I-2-6

layouts:
  all_screens:
    screens:
      hdmi: null
      touchpad: null
      internal: null
      usb:
        width: 1920
        height: 1080
    links:
      - display: usb
        right_of: internal
      - display: hdmi
        above: usb
      - display: touchpad
        below: internal
  no_usb:
    screens:
      hdmi: null
      touchpad: null
      internal: null
    links:
      - display: hdmi
        right_of: internal
      - display: touchpad
        below: internal

Building

php monitor_layout app:build

• This will occassionally fail due to the system's limit on open file descriptors. The most straightforward (if slightly gross) solution is simply: sudo -- sh -c 'ulimit -n 65535 && ./monitor_layout app:build'