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[SOLVED] i3-gaps is not putting gaps between windows

Graphical Environments, Managers, Multimedia & Desktop questions.
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cdyrssen
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[SOLVED] i3-gaps is not putting gaps between windows

#1 Post by cdyrssen »

Hey guys first time post. Hope this is an appropriate place for this, but I am having issues getting i3-gaps to actually insert gaps between windows. I had successfully install i3 and enjoyed it as a windows manager. Soon after I found a fork of i3 called i3-gaps that supposedly puts gaps between the windows. I was able to successfully install and build the git clone from here: https://github.com/Airblader/i3. I installed all the dependencies for Debian stretch and inserted the following code to the /etc/i3/config file:

for_window [class="^.*"] border pixel 0
gaps inner 10
gaps outer 10

and left everything else the same. Am I missing a step in order to get this to work? I performed the keyboard command mod+shift+r after saving the changes, logged out and logged back in, and restarted my laptop and still haven't been able to get gaps to show up between the windows. Please help!
Last edited by cdyrssen on 2018-03-23 16:43, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: i3-gaps is not putting gaps between windows

#2 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

Did you disable the window title bars, as per the instructions?

Slightly off-topic but I have some stretch packages for sway, if you're interested:

https://software.opensuse.org//download ... ckage=sway

It's a Wayland compositor based on i3 and can be configured for gaps.

https://github.com/swaywm/sway
deadbang

cdyrssen
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Re: i3-gaps is not putting gaps between windows

#3 Post by cdyrssen »

From my understanding the line:
for_window [class="^.*"] border pixel 0
was supposed to take care of disabling the window title bars.

I am relatively new to ricing my system, and the main reason for doing so was to cut back on memory consumption. I noticed i3 used significantly less than GNOME, my current desktop environment, and was the main factor in choosing it as well as efficient use of screen space. Taking a look and Sway, it seems to provide much of the same functionality, but its built on top of the Wayland compositor. From my limited understanding, the reason i3 is so light weight is because it is just a windows manager and doesn't include a compositor or full desktop environment. I am not opposed to giving Sway a shot, but my question is would it have similar memory usage as the i3 windows manager compared to GNOME?

cdyrssen
Posts: 13
Joined: 2018-03-22 23:16

Re: i3-gaps is not putting gaps between windows

#4 Post by cdyrssen »

So I have done a bit more to try and figure this out and it seems that i3 is not even loading my config file. I tried changing some of the keybindings, specifically mod+shift+j, k, l, and ; to mod+shift+u, i, o, and p. After restarting i3, logging out and back in, and a system reboot, the bindings are still set to the default j, k, l, and ;. The changes I made however still persist in the config file. The file I have been modifying is /etc/i3/config. Is this the correct file?

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Re: i3-gaps is not putting gaps between windows

#5 Post by None1975 »

Hello. Check this config:
  • ###########################################################################
    ################### I 3 G A P S N E X T ##############################
    ###########################################################################
    # Settings for I3 next gap git
    # https://github.com/Airblader/i3/tree/gaps-next
    # Archlinux via aur installation
    # http://dotx.me/snippets-i3-gaps/
    # delete or uncomment the following lines if you do not have it or do not
    # want it
    # packer i3-gaps-next-git --noedit

    for_window [class="^.*"] border pixel 5
    gaps inner 10
    gaps outer 5
    #smart_gaps on
    #smart_borders on


    ###########################################################################
    ################### I3 GAPS CHANGE ##############################
    ###########################################################################


    set $mode_gaps Gaps: (o) outer, (i) inner
    set $mode_gaps_outer Outer Gaps: +|-|0 (local), Shift + +|-|0 (global)
    set $mode_gaps_inner Inner Gaps: +|-|0 (local), Shift + +|-|0 (global)
    bindsym $mod+Shift+g mode "$mode_gaps"

    mode "$mode_gaps" {
    bindsym o mode "$mode_gaps_outer"
    bindsym i mode "$mode_gaps_inner"
    bindsym Return mode "default"
    bindsym Escape mode "default"
    }

    mode "$mode_gaps_inner" {
    bindsym plus gaps inner current plus 5
    bindsym minus gaps inner current minus 5
    bindsym 0 gaps inner current set 0

    bindsym Shift+plus gaps inner all plus 5
    bindsym Shift+minus gaps inner all minus 5
    bindsym Shift+0 gaps inner all set 0

    bindsym Return mode "default"
    bindsym Escape mode "default"
    }
    mode "$mode_gaps_outer" {
    bindsym plus gaps outer current plus 5
    bindsym minus gaps outer current minus 5
    bindsym 0 gaps outer current set 0

    bindsym Shift+plus gaps outer all plus 5
    bindsym Shift+minus gaps outer all minus 5
    bindsym Shift+0 gaps outer all set 0

    bindsym Return mode "default"
    bindsym Escape mode "default"
    }
OS: Debian 12.4 Bookworm / DE: Enlightenment
Debian Wiki | DontBreakDebian, My config files on github

cdyrssen
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Re: i3-gaps is not putting gaps between windows

#6 Post by cdyrssen »

Silly me I should have read the i3 configuration process more carefully.. The solution for anyone else that may run into the same problem was to run the following commands:

sudo mkdir ~/.i3
sudo cp /etc/i3/config ~/.i3/config

Any changes should then be made to the new config file:
~/.i3/config

Thanks for the replies though. Sorry I didn't read instructions carefully enough.
Last edited by cdyrssen on 2018-03-23 15:06, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: i3-gaps is not putting gaps between windows

#7 Post by None1975 »

cdyrssen wrote:The file I have been modifying is /etc/i3/config. Is this the correct file?
No, is not correct. The first time you log in, i3 will start a setup wizard to guide you through creating a configuration file. There are two options: start with the default options or start with an empty file. If it is your first time using i3 or a window manager, i recommending using the default configuration. Default config is located in

Code: Select all

 ~/.config/i3/config
This file is created by the setup wizard and you can control any aspect of your windows manager by changing the configuration. To open the file, you can use your favorite text editor. Don’t worry about breaking this file. At any time, you can delete this file and in terminal run

Code: Select all

i3-config-wizard
Additional reading.
OS: Debian 12.4 Bookworm / DE: Enlightenment
Debian Wiki | DontBreakDebian, My config files on github

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