list gui programs running in Xorg, from the command line

jr_bob_dobbs · 07-22-2023, 08:39 AM

I was wondering if there is a way, in a terminal, to show what GUI programs are running in Xorg. It would be like Fvwm's FvwmIconMan or the Workspace List menu of Blackbox, except it would a command line program that prints a list of the running programs in the console. In other words, it would be like ps but only for GUI programs.

Thank you.

boughtonp · 07-22-2023, 08:55 AM

pstree outputs processes as a tree structure.

"pstree $(pgrep -o Xorg)" will change the root of the tree to the oldest process named "Xorg".

However, on a KDE Plasma system, GUI programs are under plasmashell process, i.e: "pstree $(pgrep -o plasmashell)" would be needed - other desktops may organize things differently.

goumba · 07-25-2023, 06:09 PM

If you're simply looking for a list of windows (which is similar to what you'd get from the mentioned programs), try:

Code:

wmctrl -l

jayjwa · 07-27-2023, 08:09 PM

xlsclients

Code:

example.com  /usr/bin/emwm
example.com  LibreWolf
example.com  qemu-system-i386
example.com  qemu-system-i386
example.com  gkrellm
example.com  xnetload -i br0
example.com  xnetload -i eth0
example.com  xlogo -fg DarkOliveGreen -bg black
example.com  xnetload -i wlan0
example.com  xclock
example.com  urxvt -embed 25165834
example.com  /usr/bin/xterm -class UXTerm -u8 -fg OldLace -bg black -fn -xos4-terminus-medium-r-normal--14-140-72-72-c-80-iso10646-1