JSON Config Proposal

[dalyIsaac]

This is a proposal for adding JSON config support to Whim.

The aims for the JSON config would be to:

• Increase the approachability of Whim to non-programmers.
• Restrict the required amount of knowledge of the internals of Whim - users currently need to be aware of the keybinds, commands, and the store with its transforms and pickers.
• Provide a foundation for a Settings UI #140

Whim will always have the ability to be scripted using C# (.csx).

Example JSON Config

{
  "workspaces": [
    {
      "name": "Browser",
      // The specific layout engines to use for this workspace.
      "engines": [
        {
          "type": "FocusLayoutEngine"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Chat"
    },
    {
      "name": "Code"
    },
    {
      "name": "Music"
    }
  ],

  // The layout engines to use for a workspace if not specified in the workspace config.
  "engines": [
    {
      "type": "SliceLayoutEngine",
      "config": {
        "type": "Column"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "SliceLayoutEngine",
      "config": {
        "type": "PrimaryStack"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "TreeLayoutEngine"
    }
  ],

  // For each monitor, the sticky workspaces that are available on that monitor.
  "monitors": [
    {
      "workspaces": ["Browser", "Chat", "Music"]
    },
    {
      "workspaces": ["Code"]
    },
    {
      "workspaces": [
        "*" // All workspaces
      ]
    }
  ],

  "keybinds": [
    {
      "command": "whim.core.activate_previous_workspace",
      "keybind": "win+ctrl+left"
    }
  ],

  "filters": [
    {
      "type": "title",
      "value": "whim"
    }
  ],

  "routers": [
    {
      "type": "fileName",
      "value": "Discord.exe",
      "workspace": "Chat"
    }
  ],

  "plugins": [
    {
      "name": "GapsPlugin",
      "isEnabled": true,
      "config": {
        "gapSize": 10
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "FocusIndicatorPlugin",
      "isEnabled": true,
      "config": {
        "color": "#ff0000",
        "borderSize": 2
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "BarPlugin",
      "isEnabled": true,
      "config": {
        "leftComponents": [
          {
            "type": "DateTimeWidget",
            "config": {
              "format": "HH:mm",
              "interval": 1000
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

Issues with the Example JSON Config

Workspace Identification

Identification of workspaces could rely on names. However, workspaces can be renamed and their names may not be unique.

Windows Terminal solves this by having a GUID for each profile. This seems unwieldy for a user to manage.

{
    "backgroundImage": "ms-appdata:///local/icons/powershell-core-avatar.png",
    "guid": "{574e775e-4f2a-5b96-ac1e-a2962a402336}",
    "hidden": false,
    "name": "PowerShell",
    "source": "Windows.Terminal.PowershellCore"
},
{
    "backgroundImage": "ms-appdata:///local/icons/ubuntu-cropped.png",
    "commandline": "wsl.exe ~",
    "guid": "{2c4de342-38b7-51cf-b940-2309a097f518}",
    "hidden": false,
    "icon": "ms-appdata:///local/icons/ubuntu.ico",
    "name": "Ubuntu",
    "source": "Windows.Terminal.Wsl"
}

Example C# Config

Option 1:

void DoConfig(IContext context)
{
    // First, we load the JSON config.
    JsonConfig jsonConfig = context.LoadConfig();

    // Perform a one-off subscription to the JSON config.
    BarConfig barConfig = BarConfig.Load(jsonConfig);
    BarPlugin barPlugin = new BarPlugin(barConfig);
    context.PluginManager.AddPlugin(barPlugin);

    // Perform an ongoing-subscription to the JSON config.
    GapsConfig gapsConfig = GapsConfig.Subscribe(jsonConfig);
    GapsPlugin gapsPlugin = new GapsPlugin(gapsConfig);
    context.PluginManager.AddPlugin(gapsPlugin);
}

Issues with the Example C# Config

• Adding a new plugin requires changes to the JSON and the C# config.
• The isEnabled property is not used in the C# config.

Questions

• Should we be able to mix and match JSON and CSX?
  • If we can, how can we refer to custom layout engines in the JSON?
  • If we can and there is hot-reloading, how do we handle exceptions in CSX?
• Should the Komorebi rules be moved to JSON?
• How do we load the JSON config?
• Is hot reload desirable? Should the config only be reloaded if the user specifically executed a command to that effect?
• JSON vs. YAML?