Display output of a bash script on a widget

Tue, 16 Feb 2016 00:01:00 +0000

I managed to build a bridge between Termux and Minimalistic Text using Tasker. I use it to display the last 20 lines of the #termux irc channel as you can see in the picture. I've done it without having Tasker check a file every two minutes. The Task is directly called from the script.

This tutorial is not Termux specific and should work with any terminal emulator

Step 1: Creating the script

All you have to do is write your output to a file in /sdcard/. In this example I am grabbing the last 20 lines of log of the #termux irc channel from my server.

while true; do
  # You can basically add your own commands here. They just have to write
  # their output to `/sdcard/widget`

  # For maximum battery and bandwidth efficiency tail and cut are
  # executed on the server
  # the cut command removes the timestamps
  #
  # for this to work you need to have placed your public key on the server.
  # Otherwise you will need to enter your password every two minutes
  ssh user@example.com "cat ~/.weechat/logs/irc.freenode.#termux.weechatlog |tail -n 20 | cut -c 21-">/sdcard/widget

  # This sends an Intent. This is how we'll call the Tasker task which
  # updates the widget. "net.dinglish.tasker" has to be there every
  # time for tasker to receive the intent. The last part is the name
  # of the intent which you can change if you want more than one.
  # This normally produces a bit of useless output. I am removing #
  #that with `>/dev/null`
  am broadcast -a net.dinglish.tasker.updatewidget --user 0 >/dev/null

  # sleep for 120 seconds. How often it should update the widget.
  sleep 120
done

If you run this it will download the last 20 lines of the log from a server, paste it into /sdcard/widget and call Tasker with an Intent.

You should also create the file /sdcard/widget now. Simply do touch /sdcard/widget. { .right}

Step 2: Create a Tasker profile

Create a new profile
Choose "Event"
In the "Select Event Category" dialog choose "System"->"Intent Received"
As Action define net.dinglish.tasker.updatewidget

This profile will now be called whenever it recieves the "updatewidget" intent. This is a usefull way to extend the functionality of Termux. I also use it to kick of some Foldersync jobs from the terminal.

Step 3: Create the Task

Tap "New Task" and give it a name
Tap + to add a new Action
Choose "File"->"Read File"
Tap 🔍 and choose /sdcard/widget.
Under "To Var" enter %Widget
Tap + again to add another new Action
Choose "Plugin"->"Minimalistic Text"->"Minimalistic Text"
Click the pen to edit the configuration
Enter %Widget for both variable name and variable content

Step 4: Configure Minimalistic Text

Add a Minimalistic Text widget to your homescreen
Choose any preset
In the "layout" tab remove remove all rows. Now you have a blank widget
Add a new element with +
Switch "Misc" Tab and tick "Locale variable"
Tap "OK"
Click on the new "Locale variable" element
In the popup enter %Widget as a the "Variable name"
"OK" and Save

Step 5: Run the script

Now you can run the script in Termux. Your widget should get updated right away.

Display Swatch Internet Time (beats) in Zooper

Fri, 30 Oct 2015 18:17:50 +0000

Did you ever want Zooper to display Time in .beats? Probably not. Here's how anyway:

@$(floor(((#Dss#)+(#Dmm#*60)+((#DH#+1)*3600))/86.4))$

This does the math. Just add a Text or Rich Text module, "Edit text manually" and insert this.

You will have to also tap "Override widget Locality" add a location, enter any city and manually set the timezone to UTC. This is because it Swatch Internet Time doesn't have time zones but can be calculated from Biel Meantime (BMT). @0 is midnight in Biel, where the Swatch headquarters is located.

You can also download this as a template: Swatch Internet Time.zw