How to execute a script on program launch and end

Question

How do I run a script when a program starts/ends?

Specifically, I made a script to toggle my touchpad/trackpoint on and off and I want to use it to turn inputs off when I start GIMP and to turn them on again when I stop it.

#!/bin/bash

if [ $1 = "on" ]
then
    echo "Turning inputs on"
    xinput enable 15
    xinput enable 13
elif [ $1 = "off" ]
then
    echo "Turning inputs off"
    xinput disable 15
    xinput disable 13
fi

This is my script (it was suggested that I include it)

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 03 '13 at 00:41

1

You can write a script and include your command/s to turn on and off the touch-pad before and after starting the gimp program:

commands to turn on touch-pad && gimp
commands to turn off touch-pad

By executing this script the touch-pad will turn on before running the gimp and when you close the program touch-pad will turn off.

answered Nov 03 '13 at 00:41

Vombat

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I'll do this if we can't figure out a solution – lightandlight Nov 03 '13 at 00:48

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 15 '14 at 08:16

The proper way to do this is to use an alias:

Since I wanted to turn some stuff off when gimp starts and on when gimp ends, I would execute

alias gimp="toggle-input off; gimp; toggle-input on"

Now, when gimp is executed, it will first execute toggle-input off, then it will run gimp, then after gimp is finished being used it will execute toggle-input on.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 03 '13 at 00:29

Can you share your script in order to understand what is going on?

Also a side-tip. All UNIX programs get configuration through an rc file. You could try and see what options '$HOME/.gimp/gimprc' takes.

A second approach would be a wrapper around your Gimp launcher, which depends on the DE or WM you are using. Provide more info and someone might come up with a clear-cut solution.

How to execute a script on program launch and end

3 Answers3