App::FirefoxUtils - Utilities related to Firefox
This document describes version 0.018 of App::FirefoxUtils (from Perl distribution App-FirefoxUtils), released on 2022-07-24.
This distribution includes several utilities related to Firefox:
firefox-has-processes
firefox-is-paused
firefox-is-running
get-firefox-profile-dir
kill-firefox
list-firefox-profiles
pause-and-unpause-firefox
pause-firefox
ps-firefox
restart-firefox
start-firefox
terminate-firefox
unpause-firefox
Usage:
firefox_has_processes(%args) -> [$status_code, $reason, $payload, \%result_meta]
Check whether Firefox has processes.
This function is not exported.
Arguments ('*' denotes required arguments):
quiet => true
users => array[unix::uid::exists]
Kill browser processes that belong to certain user(s) only.
Returns an enveloped result (an array).
First element ($status_code) is an integer containing HTTP-like status code (200 means OK, 4xx caller error, 5xx function error). Second element ($reason) is a string containing error message, or something like "OK" if status is 200. Third element ($payload) is the actual result, but usually not present when enveloped result is an error response ($status_code is not 2xx). Fourth element (%result_meta) is called result metadata and is optional, a hash that contains extra information, much like how HTTP response headers provide additional metadata.
Return value: (any)
firefox_is_paused(%args) -> [$status_code, $reason, $payload, \%result_meta]
Check whether Firefox is paused.
Firefox is defined as paused if all of its processes are in 'stop' state.
firefox_is_running(%args) -> [$status_code, $reason, $payload, \%result_meta]
Check whether Firefox is running.
Firefox is defined as running if there are some Firefox processes that are not in 'stop' state. In other words, if Firefox has been started but is currently paused, we do not say that it's running. If you want to check if Firefox process exists, you can use ps_firefox.
ps_firefox
pause_and_unpause_firefox(%args) -> [$status_code, $reason, $payload, \%result_meta]
Pause and unpause Firefox alternately.
A modern browser now runs complex web pages and applications. Despite browser's power management feature, these pages/tabs on the browser often still eat considerable CPU cycles even though they only run in the background. Pausing (kill -STOP) the browser processes is a simple and effective way to stop CPU eating on Unix and prolong your laptop battery life. It can be performed whenever you are not using your browser for a little while, e.g. when you are typing on an editor or watching a movie. When you want to use your browser again, simply unpause (kill -CONT) it.
The pause-and-unpause action pause and unpause browser in an alternate fashion, by default every 5 minutes and 30 seconds. This is a compromise to save CPU time most of the time but then give time for web applications in the browser to catch up during the unpause window (e.g. for WhatsApp Web to display new messages and sound notification.) It can be used when you are not browsing but still want to be notified by web applications from time to time.
pause-and-unpause
If you run this routine, it will start pausing and unpausing browser. When you want to use the browser, press Ctrl-C to interrupt the routine. Then after you are done with the browser and want to pause-and-unpause again, you can re-run this routine.
You can customize the periods via the periods option.
periods
periods => array[duration]
Pause and unpause times, in seconds.
For example, to pause for 5 minutes, then unpause 10 seconds, then pause for 2 minutes, then unpause for 30 seconds (then repeat the pattern), you can use:
300,10,120,30
pause_firefox(%args) -> [$status_code, $reason, $payload, \%result_meta]
Pause (kill -STOP) Firefox.
ps_firefox(%args) -> [$status_code, $reason, $payload, \%result_meta]
List Firefox processes.
restart_firefox(%args) -> [$status_code, $reason, $payload, \%result_meta]
Restart firefox.
This function supports dry-run operation.
firefox_cmd => array[str]|str (default: "firefox")
Special arguments:
-dry_run => bool
Pass -dry_run=>1 to enable simulation mode.
start_firefox(%args) -> [$status_code, $reason, $payload, \%result_meta]
Start firefox if not already started.
terminate_firefox(%args) -> [$status_code, $reason, $payload, \%result_meta]
Terminate Firefox (by default with -KILL signal).
signal => unix::signal
unpause_firefox(%args) -> [$status_code, $reason, $payload, \%result_meta]
Unpause (resume, continue, kill -CONT) Firefox.
Please visit the project's homepage at https://metacpan.org/release/App-FirefoxUtils.
Source repository is at https://github.com/perlancar/perl-App-FirefoxUtils.
Some other CLI utilities related to Firefox: dump-firefox-history (from App::DumpFirefoxHistory), App::FirefoxMultiAccountContainersUtils.
App::ChromeUtils
App::OperaUtils
App::VivaldiUtils
App::BrowserUtils
perlancar <perlancar@cpan.org>
To contribute, you can send patches by email/via RT, or send pull requests on GitHub.
Most of the time, you don't need to build the distribution yourself. You can simply modify the code, then test via:
% prove -l
If you want to build the distribution (e.g. to try to install it locally on your system), you can install Dist::Zilla, Dist::Zilla::PluginBundle::Author::PERLANCAR, and sometimes one or two other Dist::Zilla plugin and/or Pod::Weaver::Plugin. Any additional steps required beyond that are considered a bug and can be reported to me.
This software is copyright (c) 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 by perlancar <perlancar@cpan.org>.
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.
Please report any bugs or feature requests on the bugtracker website https://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=App-FirefoxUtils
When submitting a bug or request, please include a test-file or a patch to an existing test-file that illustrates the bug or desired feature.
To install App::FirefoxUtils, copy and paste the appropriate command in to your terminal.
cpanm
cpanm App::FirefoxUtils
CPAN shell
perl -MCPAN -e shell install App::FirefoxUtils
For more information on module installation, please visit the detailed CPAN module installation guide.