Set workspace to specific monitor

[winterec]

I'm having trouble assigning a workspace to a specific output. I'm seeing the same error regardless of quotes used.

Here is my i3 config
workspace "$ws3" output DP-4

Here is the error I'm seeing

ERROR: CONFIG: (in file /home/edward/.config/regolith3/i3/config.d/01-autostart)
ERROR: CONFIG: Line   1: workspace "3:<span> </span>3 <span foreground="#859900"></span><span> </span>" output DP-4
ERROR: CONFIG:                                                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ERROR: CONFIG: Line   2: 
ERROR: CONFIG: Line   3: assign [class="^obsidian$"] 3:<span> </span>3 <span foreground="#859900"></span><span> </span>
ERROR: FYI: You are using i3 version 4.21 (2022-09-21)
ERROR: FYI: You are using i3 version 4.21 (2022-09-21)
ERROR: i3-nagbar (156436) did not exit normally. This is not an error if the config was reloaded while a nagbar was active.

I have the default workspace name with the coloured circle label. Here is the output from regolith-diagnostic

wm.workspace.03.name:	3:<span> </span>3 <span foreground="#859900"></span><span> </span>

I've been stuck on this for a little while and would appreciate any help

[limefrog-the-genuine-one]

Hi @winterec,

i just want to ask,if you found a solution. Searching for a way to assign a workspace to a specific physical screen and assigning an application to a workspace either (thus assigning applications to physical screens), i stumbled across your post.

Regards

[pmahnke]

Are you running sway or x?

[limefrog-the-genuine-one]

Hi,

I'm running X on debian 12 and got the assignment of screens and workspaces running with:

workspace "$ws1" output DP-2.1.1.8
workspace "$ws2" output DP-3.8
workspace "$ws3" output DP-2.1.8
workspace "$ws4" output DP-2.1.1.8
workspace "$ws5" output DP-3.8
workspace "$ws6" output DP-2.1.8
workspace "$ws7" output DP-2.1.1.8
workspace "$ws8" output DP-3.8
workspace "$ws9" output DP-2.1.8
workspace "$ws10" output DP-2.1.8
workspace "$ws19" output DP-2.8

but i didn't manage to assign applications to workspaces:

assign [title="thunderbird"] "$ws1"
assign [title="firefox-esr"] "$ws2"

This didn't work...

... and very strange: mod+shif+c resets my background from 'zoom' to 'wallpaper' and changes my iconset and theme also!

[pmahnke]

Good news on the workspaces.

As for the assign, I have had more luck using class instead... like:

assign [class="Firefox"] "$ws2"

But I am no expert, I don't know why.

[limefrog-the-genuine-one]

Yep!

That does the trick, but i really want to know WHY?

;-)

[winterec]

Hi friends,

@limefrog-the-genuine-one Your workspace lines look similar to mine but with a the decimals for the workspace numbers. When I check xrandr now the screen I want to use is actually given the identifier DP-1-4. I tried that and DP-1.4 and it still didn't seem to work.

I'm still getting the same error which seems to be related to the html tags in the string that $ws3 expands to. Did you ever have something similar to this? I think I'm using the base regolith theme which has coloured circles in the workspace tabs.

@pmahnke I'm using X on Ubuntu with LightDM as well.

[limefrog-the-genuine-one]

@winterec: For me it still works but nevertheless if I restart the machine I get an error message, which disappears once I restart the environment. Since the machine runs about two or three months that doesn't bother me too much.

[notmii]

A work around for me is to remove the icons

Added the following in $HOME/.config/regolith3/Xresources

wm.workspace.01.name: 1
wm.workspace.02.name: 2
wm.workspace.03.name: 3
wm.workspace.04.name: 4
wm.workspace.05.name: 5
wm.workspace.06.name: 6
wm.workspace.07.name: 7
wm.workspace.08.name: 8
wm.workspace.09.name: 9

Added the following in $HOME/.config/regolith3/i3/conf.d/90_config

workspace "$ws1" output DVI-I-3-2
workspace "$ws2" output DVI-I-3-2
workspace "$ws3" output DVI-I-3-2
workspace "$ws4" output DVI-I-3-2
workspace "$ws5" output DVI-I-2-1
workspace "$ws6" output DVI-I-2-1

[dariooddenino]

I'm having the same issue.
I get that error, which goes away after restarting regolith with mod+shift+r.
After that I have to re-select workspaces to create the correct one with icons.

I'm on ubuntu 24.04, regolith 3.2 and i3 4.23

My config is very minimal:

# Assign workspaces to monitors
workspace "$ws1" output DP-1
workspace "$ws2" output DP-1
workspace "$ws3" output DP-1
workspace "$ws4" output DP-1
workspace "$ws5" output DP-1
workspace "$ws6" output DP-2
workspace "$ws7" output DP-2
workspace "$ws8" output DP-2
workspace "$ws9" output DP-2
workspace "$ws10" output DP-2
workspace "$ws11" output HDMI-0
workspace "$ws12" output HDMI-0
workspace "$ws13" output HDMI-0
workspace "$ws14" output HDMI-0
workspace "$ws15" output HDMI-0

# Assign clients to workspaces
# First monitor
assign [class="^firefox$"] "$ws1"
assign [class="^Spotify$"] "$ws5"
# Third monitor
assign [class="^Slack$"] "$ws11"
assign [class="^discord$"] "$ws11"

[ingsme]

I think you are missing 'workspace'. Like this: assign [whatever] workspace "$ws1"
This works for me:

# Set workspace and monitor
set $ws1 1
set $ws2 2
set $ws3 3
set $monitor1 DP-1-8
set $monitor2 DP-2
set $monitor3 HDMI-1

# Assign workspace to monitor
workspace "$ws1" output "$monitor1"
workspace "$ws2" output "$monitor2"
workspace "$ws3" output "$monitor3"

# Place apps on workspaces
assign [class="(?i)firefox"] workspace "$ws3"
assign [class="(?i)microsoft (?i)teams"] workspace "$ws2"

[dariooddenino]

I'm not using the "assign clients to workspace" part. It probably doesn't work, but the problem is with assigning the workspaces to the monitors, which only works after I restart regolith after a reboot.