The following Python 2 code prints list of all windows in the current workspace:
#!/usr/bin/python
import Quartz
for window in Quartz.CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo(Quartz.kCGWindowListOptionOnScreenOnly, Quartz.kCGNullWindowID):
print("%s - %s" % (window['kCGWindowOwnerName'], window.get('kCGWindowName', u'Unknown').encode('ascii','ignore')))
Although it doesn't print the applications which are in full screen (as it's in another workspace).
How do I modify above script to list all windows from all desktops?
The following script should return window information on any desktop/workspace/display, fullscreen, and detailed information (coordinates, pid, titles, etc.):
#!/usr/bin/python
import Quartz
import time
from Quartz import CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo, kCGWindowListExcludeDesktopElements, kCGNullWindowID
from Foundation import NSSet, NSMutableSet
def windowList(wl):
for v in wl:
print (
str(v.valueForKey_('kCGWindowOwnerPID') or '?').rjust(7) +
' ' + str(v.valueForKey_('kCGWindowNumber') or '?').rjust(5) +
' {' + ('' if v.valueForKey_('kCGWindowBounds') is None else (
str(int(v.valueForKey_('kCGWindowBounds').valueForKey_('X'))) + ',' +
str(int(v.valueForKey_('kCGWindowBounds').valueForKey_('Y'))) + ',' +
str(int(v.valueForKey_('kCGWindowBounds').valueForKey_('Width'))) + ',' +
str(int(v.valueForKey_('kCGWindowBounds').valueForKey_('Height')))
) ).ljust(21) + '}' +
'\t[' + ((v.valueForKey_('kCGWindowOwnerName') or '') + ']') +
('' if v.valueForKey_('kCGWindowName') is None else (' ' +
v.valueForKey_('kCGWindowName') or ''))
).encode('utf8') # remove 'encode' for Python 3.x
wl1 = CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo(kCGWindowListExcludeDesktopElements, kCGNullWindowID)
print('Move target window (or ignore)\n')
time.sleep(5)
print('PID'.rjust(7) + ' ' + 'WinID'.rjust(5) + ' ' + 'x,y,w,h'.ljust(21) + ' ' + '\t[Title] SubTitle')
print('-'.rjust(7,'-') + ' ' + '-'.rjust(5,'-') + ' ' + '-'.ljust(21,'-') + ' ' + '\t-------------------------------------------')
wl2 = CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo(kCGWindowListExcludeDesktopElements, kCGNullWindowID)
w = NSMutableSet.setWithArray_(wl1)
w.minusSet_(NSSet.setWithArray_(wl2))
wl = Quartz.CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo( Quartz.kCGWindowListOptionAll, Quartz.kCGNullWindowID)
wl = sorted(wl, key=lambda k: k.valueForKey_('kCGWindowOwnerPID'))
windowList(wl)
print('\nDetailed window information: {0}\n'.format(w))
The key is here to use the right option for the 1st argument of CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo
. So apart of using optionOnScreenOnly
property (which list all windows that are currently onscreen), excludeDesktopElements
property needs to be added.
excludeDesktopElements
: Exclude any windows from the list that are elements of the desktop, including the background picture and desktop icons.
E.g.
list = CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo(kCGWindowListExcludeDesktopElements | kCGWindowListOptionOnScreenOnly, kCGNullWindowID)
Alternatively for all windows, kCGWindowListOptionAll
property can be also used.
kCGWindowListOptionAll
: List all windows, including both onscreen and offscreen windows. When retrieving a list with this option, the relativeToWindow
parameter should be set to kCGNullWindowID
.
For other properties, check CGWindow.h
in CoreGraphics
.
So the original code can be changed to:
#!/usr/bin/python
# Prints list of all windows.
# See: https://stackoverflow.com/q/44232433/55075
import Quartz
for window in Quartz.CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo(Quartz.kCGWindowListOptionOnScreenOnly | Quartz.kCGWindowListExcludeDesktopElements, Quartz.kCGNullWindowID):
print("%s - %s" % (window['kCGWindowOwnerName'], window.get('kCGWindowName', u'Unknown').encode('ascii','ignore')))