Wrapper with the ability to add custom info in any position

contrib/any_position_wrapper.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# This i3status wrapper allows to add custom information in any position of the statusline
+# It was developed for i3bar (JSON format)
+
+# The idea is to define "holder" modules in i3status config and then replace them
+
+# In order to make this example work you need to add
+# order += "tztime holder__hey_man"
+# and 
+# tztime holder__hey_man {
+#        format = "holder__hey_man"
+# }
+# in i3staus config 
+
+# Don't forget that i3status config should contain:
+# general {
+#   output_format = i3bar
+# }
+#
+# and i3 config should contain:
+# bar {
+#   status_command exec /path/to/this/script.sh
+# }
+
+# Make sure jq is installed
+# That's it
+
+# You can easily add multiple custom modules using additional "holders"
+
+function update_holder {
+
+  local instance="$1"
+  local replacement="$2"
+  echo "$json_array" | jq --argjson arg_j "$replacement" "(.[] | (select(.instance==\"$instance\"))) |= \$arg_j" 
+}
+
+function remove_holder {
+
+  local instance="$1"
+  echo "$json_array" | jq "del(.[] | (select(.instance==\"$instance\")))"
+}
+
+function hey_man {
+
+  local rand_val=$((RANDOM % 3))
+  if [ $rand_val == 1 ] ; then
+    local json='{ "full_text": "Hey Man!", "color": "#00FF00" }'
+    json_array=$(update_holder holder__hey_man "$json")
+  elif [ $rand_val == 0 ] ; then
+    local json='{ "full_text": "Hey Man!", "color": "#FF0000" }'
+    json_array=$(update_holder holder__hey_man "$json")
+  else
+    json_array=$(remove_holder holder__hey_man)
+  fi
+}
+
+i3status | (read line; echo "$line"; read line ; echo "$line" ; read line ; echo "$line" ; while true
+do
+  read line
+  json_array="$(echo $line | sed -e 's/^,//')"
+  hey_man
+  echo ",$json_array" 
+done)