Bind "Super (Win) Key" release event (not press) in XFCE 4.10

Question

The heading says it all. In short I want to have the behavior as in gnome-shell : when I release the super key, the overview is triggered. With xfce, I want it to trigger the main menu.

I have the whisker plugin installed, so its just the matter to selecting xfce4-popup-whiskermenu as the command for the shortcut, but the problem I am facing is that simply selecting Super key binds it to "press" event rather than release, which is not what I want.

There doesnt seem to be a way to do it via the settings manager GUI. Is there a way to edit xfce configuration files to achieve this ?

Answer 1

Edit: A simpler solution is to use the xcape package, as described in this answer.

Wow. 10 years ago?! Better late than never, I guess? ;-)

You can certainly do this with xbindkeys.

sudo apt-get install xbindkeys

Run xbindkeys -k and press the "Super (Win) key" to find the key name.

For example:

system@/dev/pts/5:$ xbindkeys -k
Press combination of keys or/and click under the window.
You can use one of the two lines after "NoCommand"
in $HOME/.xbindkeysrc to bind a key.
"(Scheme function)"
    m:0x50 + c:133
    Mod2+Mod4 + Super_L

Now you can add the following to ~/.xbindkeysrc

# Run command on Super_L release event
"bash -c xfce4-popup-whiskermenu"
  release+Super_L

Now, run xbindkeys -p to poll for the changes.
If all went well, it works!

---

I have a hail mary workaround idea.

# Run command on Super_L release event
"bash -c 'sleep 0.1; xfce4-popup-whiskermenu'"
  release + m:0x50 + c:133

Introduce a slight delay to give the menu time, and hopefully trigger correctly upon release. If 0.1 doesn't work try up to .5, but if by half a second it doesn't work, it's not going to.

Make sure that, after changes, you run xbindkeys -p. To really make sure, pkill xbindkeys && xbindkeys Completely stopping and restarting the program is a guarantee.

---

If the "hail mary" fails, you could try a possible interception.

sudo apt-get install xdotool

Then run:

nano ~/super_key_menu.sh

Add the following:

#!/bin/bash

# Wait for the Super key to be released
while true; do
    # Check if the Super key is pressed
    if xdotool getkeystate 133; then
        sleep 0.1  # Delay to ensure key release is detected
    else
        # Trigger the Whisker menu
        xfce4-popup-whiskermenu
        break
    fi
    sleep 0.05  # Check every 50ms
done

Save & exit, then chmod +x ~/super_key_menu.sh

Now, change the bash -c line in ~/.xbindkeysrc to:

"bash ~/super_key_menu.sh"

Restart xbindkeys or use the xbindkeys -p
(I've run into a case before where a version of xbindkeys didn't have -p.)