Terminal Switcher

A simple bash script to quickly access your terminal emulator of choice.

Description

This script will check if you have a terminal [or any other process for that matter] running. If not, it will launch it. If process already is running, the script will investigate whether or not it has focus. If not, it will bring the process up front. If, however, the process has focus (i.e the program is on the very top), the script will hide it.

Dependencies

• xdotool
• wmctrl

Install all dependencies

• APT-based distributions (Debian, Ubuntu and more): sudo apt update && apt install xdotool wmctrl -y

How to use

• Download terminal-switcher.sh or clone repository to disk
• Put terminal-switcher.sh in desired location (~/.local/bin/ or /usr/local/bin for example)
• Make terminal-switcher.sh executable (sudo chmod +x terminal-switcher.sh)
• Bind a button to run the script with an argument. This argument should be the program that you would like to run. See example below:
  • Bind <button-of-choice> to execute command ./terminal-switcher.sh <terminal-of-choice>

With the use of a custom bind button, you will always have access to your terminal of choice.

Tests

Tested and works well in:

• Debian (XFCE, KDE)
• Ubuntu (Gnome, XFCE, KDE)
• Manjaro (XFCE)

Examples

As you can see from the screenshot below, I like to have the section button bind to the script (the button just below the escape button). It sits neatly right there next to my little finger, always ready to pull up my terminal (or any other app) of choice!

Key binding in XFCE