It is possible to control and interact with a Plasma user interface shell such as a plasma-desktop or (starting in KDE SC 4.5) plasma-netbook session using ECMA Script (aka JavaScript). This scripting mechanism exposes containments (Desktop Activities and Panels), widgets and various other aspects of plasma-desktop configuration using the widely known and used ECMA Script language. The QtScript engine is used for the runtime environment.
This document describes the API that is provided along with how to run such scripts in plasma-desktop.
A set of examples can be found here that demonstrate the use of various aspects of Plasma shell scripting.
Contributions of additional examples are welcome and an be sent to the Plasma development mailing list (plasma-devel at kde.org) for inclusion if you do not have commit rights to the kdeexamples module.
There are three ways that scripts can be executed in plasma-desktop:
| Note |
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| For security reasons, scripts located in the user's home directory will not be run during this phase. |
`kde4-config --path data`/plasma-desktop/updates/
with a ".js" suffix for scripts that have not yet been run. If there is more than one script which has not been run yet they will be executed serially in the alphabetical order of the file names.
A record of which update scripts have been run is kept in the application's config file in the [Updates] group. This means that if the plasma-desktop configuraiton file is removed, all the update scripts will be run again.
| Note |
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| For security reasons, scripts located in the user's home directory will not be run during this phase. |
qdbus org.kde.plasma-desktop /MainApplication showInteractiveConsole</code>{{note|This method is not available for plasma-netbook.}}
<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">qdbus org.kde.plasma-desktop /MainApplication loadScriptInInteractiveConsole /path/to/file</code> == Templates == Templates are named packages that contain scripts. This provides a way for common functionality to be easily reused, helping to increase consistency and lower maintenance costs. Templates can be loaded from other scripts by name and they are also used to populate some parts of the user interface, such as the entries in the Add Panels menu. A template is a small set of files in a specified file hierarchy (or, in Plasma terms, a "Package"). In particular, a Template package contains the following files: * metadata.desktop: a .desktop file describing the template * contents/layout.js: a Javascript file containing the actual script Templates are stored under share/apps/plasma/layout-templates and may be installed using `plasmapkg -t layout-template -i /path/to/package`. Template packages may also be provided as a .zip file with a .plasmalayout suffix. The metadata.desktop file contains the usual .desktop entries such as Name and Icon but must also contain Type=Service and ServiceTypes=Plasma/LayoutTemplate entries. If the layout is specific to a given Plasma application, such as plasma-desktop, this can be specific using X-Plasma-Shell. X-Plasma-ContainmentCategories defines what kind of layout it is with possible values being panel and desktop. Finally a X-KDE-PluginInfo-Name entry is required to provide a globally unique internal name for the Template. Here is an example of a Template that provides a Panel layout for Plasma Netbook: <syntaxhighlight lang="ini"> [Desktop Entry] Encoding=UTF-8 Name=Cool Panel Type=Service ServiceTypes=Plasma/LayoutTemplate X-Plasma-Shell=plasma-netbook X-Plasma-ContainmentCategories=panel X-KDE-PluginInfo-Author=Aaron Seigo X-KDE-PluginInfo-Email=aseigo@kde.org X-KDE-PluginInfo-Name=org.kde.CoolNetbookPanel X-KDE-PluginInfo-Version=1.0 X-KDE-PluginInfo-Website=http://plasma.kde.org/ X-KDE-PluginInfo-Category= X-KDE-PluginInfo-Depends= X-KDE-PluginInfo-License=GPL X-KDE-PluginInfo-EnabledByDefault=true </code> When running a template, two global variables will be accessible in read-only mode: templateName and templateComment. They will contain the Name and Comment fields of the above desktop file, and are translated if a localization is available. === Examples of Usage === ==== Creating panels ==== A good example of the use of templates is the use case that triggered the creation of this feature: the desire to make it easy for users to re-create the default panel that is created on first start. There is a Template called org.kde.plasma-desktop.defaultPanel that ships with the KDE Plasma Workspace which contains the layout for the initial default panel. This is referenced by the default Plasma Desktop init script and, because it is marked as a Panel Template in the metadata.desktop file it also shows up to the user in the Add Panels menu. When selected by the user from the menu, the exact same panel that is created on desktop start up is created for them, complete with Plasma Widgets and configuration. ==== Automating tasks ==== Another example of the usefulness of templates is the "Find Widgets" template. This template, which first shipped with Plasma Desktop v4.5, provides a function for finding widgets by name. It appears in the toolbar "Load" and "Use" menus in the Desktop Console in plasma-desktop, and makes finding widgets as simple as: <syntaxhighlight lang="javascript"> var template = loadTemplate('org.kde.plasma-desktop.findWidgets') template.findWidgets('systemtray') </code> ==== Activity templates ==== Probably the most user visible use of templates are "Activity templates". The structure of Activity templates is similar to the other use of templates, but a few extra features are provided in the metadata.desktop file. Here is an example of such an activity template: <syntaxhighlight lang="ini"> [Desktop Entry] Encoding=UTF-8 Name=Cool Activity Template Icon=user-desktop Type=Service ServiceTypes=Plasma/LayoutTemplate X-Plasma-Shell=plasma-desktop X-Plasma-ContainmentCategories=desktop X-Plasma-ContainmentLayout-ExecuteOnCreation=dolphin $desktop, gwenview $pictures X-Plasma-ContainmentLayout-ShowAsExisting=true X-KDE-PluginInfo-Author=John Doe X-KDE-PluginInfo-Email=john@doe.org X-KDE-PluginInfo-Name=org.kde.plasma-desktop.CoolTemplate X-KDE-PluginInfo-Version=1.0 X-KDE-PluginInfo-Website=http://john.doe.org X-KDE-PluginInfo-Category= X-KDE-PluginInfo-Depends= X-KDE-PluginInfo-License=GPL X-KDE-PluginInfo-EnabledByDefault=true </code> The layout itself is still created from the layout.js file as usual, but this template also shows as a precreated activity to the user thanks to the X-Plasma-ContainmentLayout-ShowAsExisting key. Additionally, it starts applications in the newly created activity using the X-Plasma-ContainmentLayout-ExecuteOnCreation key. That key is a list of commands to execute, and it supports the following variables: * $desktop * $autostart * $documents * $music * $video * $downloads * $pictures They all expand into the path toward the user corresponding default folder. == API == In addition to the normal ECMA Script API and the Qt-specific extensions (such as signal/slot support) provided by QtScript, the following API is provided for use by scripts. All of the API below, unless otherwise noted with a version noticed, appear as below in the KDE Software Compilation v4.4.0 and later. API that is not noted as being part of a given class or object is part of the global namespace. {{note|API compatibility is guaranteed from version to version starting with KDE Software Compilation v4.4.0.}} === Version Numbers === Starting with KDE SC 4.5, the version number of both the scripting API and the application is available to the script via the following read-only properties: * ''String'' '''applicationVersion''': the version of the application, e.g. 0.3 * ''String'' '''platformVersion''': the version of the KDE Platform, e.g. 0.3 * ''number'' '''scriptingVersion''': the version of the scripting API; e.g. in KDE SC 4.5 this is 2 === Activities === Activities are the desktop layer in a plasma-desktop session and may contain widgts. In sightly more technical terms, they are desktop containments. Activities can be created, enumerated, modified and destroyed. New Activities can be created using the Activity constructor, like this:
var activity = new Activity("folderview")
The string passed into the constructor maps to the X-KDE-PluginInfo-Name= entry in the plugin's .desktop file). See the documentation on the Containment object class below. Read-only properties:
Functions:
=== Panels === Panels can be created, enumerated, modified and destroyed. A panel object combines both a containment as well as the container itself, allowing for full control of things such as where it appears on screen and the hiding features associated with them. New Panels can be created using the Panel constructor, like this:
KDE TechBase var panel = new Panel("dock")
The string passed into the constructor maps to the X-KDE-PluginInfo-Name= entry in the plugin's .desktop file). Read-only properties: * ''Array[number]'' '''panelIds''': returns a list of integer ids of all existing Plasma panels * ''Array[String]'' '''knownPanelTypes''': (scripting version >= 2) a list of types of panels that can be created. This is useful to check if a Panel type is available on the system before trying to construct one. Functions: * ''Panel'' '''panelById(int id)''': returns an object representing the Panel that matches the given id * ''Array[Panels]'' '''panels()''': returns an array of all panels that currently exist === Activities and Panels === Activity and Panel objects, once created by the script, or as returned by activityById, activityForScreen, or panelById) provide the following read-only properties: * ''number'' '''id: the integer id of this activity
as well as the following read/write properties:
and the following methods:
in the widget's .desktop file
* ''Widget'' '''addWidget(Widget widget)''': adds an existing widget to this activity; useful for moving widgets between Activities and Panels * '''showConfigurationInteface()''': shows the configuration user interface for this Activity or Panel on the screen * '''readConfig(String key, any default)''': (scriptingVersion >= 2) reads the value of key in the config with default for the default value * '''writeConfig(String key, any value)''': (scriptingVersion >= 2) sets key to value in the config * '''readGlobalConfig(String key, any default)''': (scriptingVersion >= 2) reads the value of key in the global config with default
for the default value
* '''writeGlobalConfig(String key, any value)''': (scriptingVersion >= 2) sets key to value in the global config * '''reloadConfig()''': (scriptingVersion >= 2) causes the Activity or Panel to reload its configuration; reaction to configuration changes made using readConfig are usually activated on script exit, but this can be triggered earlier on a per-widget basis using this method * ''Array[String]'' '''currentGlobalConfigGroup''': (scriptingVersion >= 2) the current global configuration group path, with each entry in the array representing a sub-group, similar to currentConfigGroup. However, global configuration is shared by all instances of panels and activities of the same type. * ''Array[Widget]'' '''widgets([String type])''': (scriptingVersion >= 2) returns all the widgets in the Panel or Activity. If the optional type is specified, only widgets matching that type will be returned. In addition to all of the above properties and functions, Panel objects also provide the folowing read/write properties: * ''number'' '''length''': the number of pixels along the screen edge used * ''number'' '''height''': the height (or for vertical panels, the width) of the panel * ''String'' '''hiding''': the hiding mode of the panel, one of "none" (for no hiding), "autohide", "windowscover" or "windowsbelow" * ''String'' '''alignment''': right, left or center alignment of the panel (for vertical panels, right corrsponds to top and left to bottom) * ''String'' '''location''': returns the location of the activity (only relevant for Panels); valid values include "top", "bottom", "left", "right" and "floating" === Widgets === Widgets may be enumerated by calling the widgetIds property on a Activity or Panel object. With a widget id in hand, a Widget object can be retrieved by calling widgetById(id) on an Activity or Panel object. New Widgets can be created with add addWidget(String) function provided by Activity and Panel objects. A list of all installed widget types can be retrieved the following read-only property: * ''Array[String]'' '''knownWidgetTypes''' (scripting version >= 2) A Widget object provides the following read-only properties: * ''number'' '''id''': the id of the widget * ''String'' '''type''': the plugin type of this widget * ''Array[String]'' '''configKeys''': a list of all keys that are set in the current configuration * ''Array[String]'' '''configGroups''': a list of all the groups in the current configuration * ''Array[String]'' '''globalConfigKeys''': (scriptingVersion >= 2) a list of all keys that are set in the current global configuration group * ''Array[String]'' '''globalConfigGroups''': (scriptingVersion >= 2) a list of all the groups in the current global configuration group * ''String'' '''version''': (scriptingVersion >= 2) the version of the Activity or Panel as well as the following read-write properties: * ''Array[String]'' '''currentConfigGroup''': the current configuration group path, with each entry in the array representing a sub-group. This allows one to access trees of groups with code such as: widget.currentConfigGroup = new Array('topGroup', 'subGroupOfTopGroup'). An empty Array means the default (top-level) configuration group for the widget * ''Array[String]'' '''currentGlobalConfigGroup''': (scriptingVersion >= 2) the current global configuration group path, with each entry in the array representing a sub-group, similar to currentConfigGroup. However, global configuration is shared by all instances of widgets of the same type. * ''QRectF'' '''geometry''': the geometry of the widget (settable) * ''String'' '''globalShortcut''': the shortcut sequence (in the format used by QKeySequence, e.g. "Alt+F1") associated with this widget * ''number'' '''index''': the layout index of the widget; in a Panel this corresponds to the order the widget appears in. Changing the value of the index will change the position of the widget in Panels and may do so in some Activities as well. and the following methods: * '''remove()''': deletes this widget * '''readConfig(String key, any default)''': reads the value of key in the config with default
for the default value
* '''writeConfig(String key, any value)''': sets key to value in the config * '''readGlobalConfig(String key, any default)''': (scriptingVersion >= 2) reads the value of key in the global config with default
for the default value
* '''writeGlobalConfig(String key, any value)''': (scriptingVersion >= 2) sets key to value in the global config * '''reloadConfig()''': causes the widget to reload its configuration; reaction to configuration changes made using readConfig are usually activated on script exit, but this can be triggered earlier on a per-widget basis using this method * '''showConfigurationInteface()''': shows the configuration user interface for this widget on the screen === Screen Geometry === Read-only properties: * ''number'' '''screenCount''': returns the number of screens connected to the computer Functions: * ''QRectF'' '''screenGeometry(number screen)''': returns a rect object representing the geometry of a screen === Wallpaper Plugins === * ''Array[String => Array[String]]'' '''knownWallpaperPlugins()''': (scripting version >= 4) returns a list of all installed wallpaper plugins. They keys of the array are the wallpaper plugin names. The values are arrays containing the modes available for that wallpaper plugin. The mode array may be empty, as most wallpaper plugins only offer one mode. === Locating Applications and Paths === * ''boolean'' '''applicationExists(String name)''': (scripting version >= 4) searches $PATH first, then tries in the application menu system by application storage name (aka the .desktop file name), then Name= entries for apps with installed .desktop files, then GenericName= entries for same * ''mixed'' '''defaultApplication(String kind [, boolean storageId = false])''': (scripting version >= 4) returns the executable (or if storageId is true, then the app menu system id, e.g. its .desktop file name) of the default app. The "kind" parameter may be a well-known application type including "browser", "mailer", "filemanager", "terminal", "imClient" and "windowmanager" (or any other entry in share/apps/kcm_componentchooser/kcm_*.desktop); it may also be a mimetype (e.g. "application/pdf"). On failure, it returns false. * ''String'' '''applicationPath(String name)''': (scripting version >= 4) returns the full local path to a given application or .desktop file if it exists. * ''String'' '''userDataPath([String type, String path])''': (scripting version >= 4) returns the default path for user data. Called with no parameters, it returns the user's home directory. If only one string is passed in, the standard directory for that type of data in the user's home directory will be located; the following values are recognized: ** documents ** music ** video ** downloads ** pictures ** autostart ** desktop (should be considered deprecated for Plasma workspaces) If a second string is passed in, it is considered a request for a specific path and the following types are recognized: ** apps - Applications menu (.desktop files). ** autostart - Autostart directories (both XDG and kde-specific) ** cache - Cached information (e.g. favicons, web-pages) ** cgi - CGIs to run from kdehelp. ** config - Configuration files. ** data - Where applications store data. ** emoticons - Emoticons themes ** exe - Executables in $prefix/bin. findExe() for a function that takes $PATH into account. ** html - HTML documentation. ** icon - Icons, see KIconLoader. ** kcfg - KConfigXT config files. ** lib - Libraries. ** locale - Translation files for KLocale. ** mime - Mime types defined by KDE-specific .desktop files. ** module - Module (dynamically loaded library). ** qtplugins - Qt plugins (dynamically loaded objects for Qt) ** services - Services. ** servicetypes - Service types. ** sound - Application sounds. ** templates - Templates for the "Create new file" functionality. ** wallpaper - Wallpapers. ** tmp - Temporary files (specific for both current host and current user) ** socket - UNIX Sockets (specific for both current host and current user) ** xdgconf-menu - Freedesktop.org standard location for menu layout (.menu) files. ** xdgdata-apps - Freedesktop.org standard location for application desktop files. ** xdgdata-dirs - Freedesktop.org standard location for menu descriptions (.directory files). ** xdgdata-mime - Freedesktop.org standard location for MIME type definitions. ** xdgdata-icon - Freedesktop.org standard location for icons. ** xdgdata-pixmap - Gnome-compatibility location for pixmaps. The second parameter should be a specific resource to find the path to. An example might be userDataPath("data", "plasma-desktop"). === Misc. Global Properties and Functions === Read-write properties: * ''boolean'' '''locked''': whether the desktop shell and widgets are locked or not (settable) * ''string'' '''theme''': (scripting version >= 3) the name of the desktop theme to use for the interface, e.g. default, Air, Oxygen, etc. Read-only properties: * ''boolean'' '''hasBattery''': whether or not the system has the ability to run on battery power, e.g. a laptop or mobile device * ''boolean'' '''multihead''': (scripting version >= 3) true if the system is running with multiple screens in a "Xaphod" multiple display server configuration * ''int'' '''multiheadScreen''': (scripting version >= 3) if multihead is true, contains the (real) screen id of the current screen Functions: * '''sleep(number ms)''': sleeps the script for the specified number of millseconds === QRectF === A rectangle class is also provided for use with Widget, Panel and screen geometry properties and functions. Read-only properites: * ''boolean'' '''empty''': true if the rectangle's width or height is less than, or equal to, 0; an empty rectangle is also invalid
Read-write properties:
Constructors:
Functions: * '''adjust(number dx1, number dy1, number dx2, number dy2)''': adds dx1, dy1, dx2 and dy2 respectively to the existing coordinates of the rectangle * ''QRectF'' '''adjusted(number dx1, number dy1, number dx2, number dy2)''': returns a new QRectF with dx1, dy1, dx2 and dy2 added respectively to the existing coordinates of the rectangle * '''translate(number dx, number dy)''': translates the rect by dx, dy * '''setCoords(number x1, number y1, number x2, number y2)''': sets the coordinates of the rectangle's top-left corner to (x1, y1), and the coordinates of its bottom-right corner to (x2, y2).
* ''boolean'' '''contains(number x, number y)''': returns true if the rect contains the point (x, y) * '''moveBottom(number delta)'': moves the bottom by delta pixels
== Configuration Keys == Here you find a list of commonly used configuration keys to use with the '''writeConfig''' command. Where the documentation notes that a key is in a subgroup, remember to first use '''currentConfigGroup'''. === Common configuration keys === Here are some keys that can be used with all widgets:
=== Common time and date keys === Most of the settings listed below apply to all widgets dealing with date and time (clock, digital-clock, binary-clock, …) Settings for individual plasmoids can be found in their respective category and usually only affect the plasmoid’s appearance.
=== Analog clock (clock) ===
=== Battery status (battery) ===
=== Digital clock (digital-clock) ===
=== Folderview (folderview) ===
=== Kickoff menu (launcher) ===
=== Pager (pager) ===
=== Notifications (notifications) === {{note|This applet is likely to be embedded to system tray. For Systrem Tray specific tasks, i. e. how to add, manage and remove plasmoids inside it, see sections below}}
=== Removable media notifier (notifier) ===
{{note|Auto-mount settings and device actions are not stored in this Plasmoid’s settings.}} === Taskbar (tasks) ===
=== System Tray === The System Tray has some unique behaviors since it can host widgets and configuring it is not as easy as most other widgets, particularly when adding and removing widgets. This section will help you deal with its specific behavior. ==== Generic System Tray configuration keys ====
{{note|Although notifications appear to be part of the System Tray, they are handled by a separate plasmoid which is embedded to the system tray. For its configuration keys, see section above}} ==== Add a widget to systemtray ==== You can not add widgets to the systemtray in a similar way like you would add them to a panel or containment using addWidget. Instead, to add, manage and remove them, you need to utilize writeConfig changing the currentConfigGroup. <syntaxhighlight lang="bash">systray = panel.addWidget("systemtray") // First add a systemtray to your panel systray.currentConfigGroup = Array("Applets","0") // then change the currentConfig Group // to the subnode [Applets][0]. Use any number you like(?)</code> Now you can “create” the plasmoid by adding a “plugin” configuration entry <syntaxhighlight lang="bash">systray.writeConfig("plugin","notifier") // This will add a Device Notifier Plasmoid</code> You can modify the plasmoid’s configuration by using writeConfig. <syntaxhighlight lang="bash">systray.writeConfig("property","value")</code> To change back to the top configuration level and thus edit the systemtray plasmoid itself pass an empty array to currentConfigGroup. ==== Edit existing widgets in systemtray ==== ==== Remove a widget from systemtray ====
To remove a widget, simply delete the corresponding configuration group.