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+---
+title: "Custom development setup using i3 and vim"
+date: 2019-12-02T14:15:30+05:30
+description: "I go through how i3 and vim can be used to setup a custom workspace for working with NS (network simulator) and Nam (network animator)"
+tags:
+- i3
+- vim
+- workflow
+draft: true
+---
+
+I see extendable software like vim and i3 really good tools to work with. I
+think you should have control over how something works in your tool set. Tools
+like vim and i3 allow for users to customize the workings in order fit their
+needs - this is what makes them so powerful and a joy to use. There are many
+instances where one feels the need to tweak their tools so that they could do
+things which would make their lives a little more easier. Most of the times
+these are small tweaks and this is where prgrams like vim and i3 shine.
+
+One such instance of being able to tweak something was when I was working with
+NS (network simulator) and preparing for my Computer Networks Lab exams. NS is
+a network simulator and is built as a Tcl framework. It allows you to simlate
+networking events like sending TCP traffic or pining a host, etc. A simulation
+is run using the `ns <tcl-script>` command. This runs the simmulation and also
+creates a `.nam` file that can be fed to NAM.  NAM is a Tcl/TK based animation
+tool for viewing network simulation traces and real world packet traces.
+
+Now for our labwork we were supposed to make the topography of the network and
+run the simulation and to visualize it we were supposed to use NAM. This
+becomes a cumbersome task - first, to run the tcl script using the `ns`
+command; then, run `nam output.nam`. Now do this everytime you want to see the
+changes take effect to the animation. All of this can simply be "automated"
+
+first I add a small keybind to vim to run `ns` on the tcl script.
+
+```
+nnoremap <leader>n:!ns %<Enter>
+```
+
+I have set my leader key as `,` (comma). When I press `,+n` ns is called and
+the argument passed to it is the current file's name that is being edited, that
+is what "`%`" stands for. This then produces the nam file. The same tcl script
+also has a "finish" procedure that is called at the end.
+
+```
+proc finish {} {
+    global ns nf tf
+    $ns flush-trace
+    close $nf
+    close $tf
+    exec nam out.nam &
+    exit 0
+}
+```
+
+Here the line `exec nam out.nam &` calls the nam command.
+
+So now I can just press `,+n` and the animation window comes up.  Now there's
+another problem. The Nam window spawns another annoying small window that
+serves no purpose but to display the version and some copyright info, and if
+you close it, the main animation window gets closed as well.
+
+![Annoying nam window](annoying-window.png)
+
+Both theses windows open as normal windows in i3 and hence get tiled which is
+again annoying as it messes up my terminal.
+
+![Before configuring i3](before-configuring.png)
+
+Instead of having the main window
+tiled I would like it to be floating and to the right side of the screen. As
+for the unwanted window, I would like it to be moved out of sight. This is
+where I can configure i3 to manage the windows. I can configure i3 such
+that the unwanted window is moved to a scratchpad workspace which is
+basiclaly just a hidden workspace. And the main window can be moved to the
+side of the screen and floating instead of tiling.
+
+```
+for_window [title="Nam Console v1.15"] floating enable move scratchpad
+for_window [title="nam: (?i)"] floating enable resize set 800 720, move position 560 25
+```
+
+Custom rules can be applied to a window depending on their title and other
+attributes as well. To find the title you can use the `xwininfo` tool. So for
+any window that has a title "Nam Console v1.15" (which is the unwanted window),
+i3 will move it the scratchpad workspace, out of sight. And for the main
+animation window titled "nam <filename.nam>", i3 will set the window to float,
+reisze it to 800x720 and move to position x=560 and y=25 on the screen.
+
+![After configuring i3](after-configuring.png)
+