slop:tldr:5413e

The command "slop -f ${format_string}" is used to interactively select a region or window on the screen and retrieve its coordinates and size in a specified format.

Here's a breakdown of the command and its components:

• "slop" is a command-line utility that provides a way to select and retrieve screen region information.
• "-f" is a flag used to specify the format in which the region information should be returned.
• "${format_string}" is a placeholder for the actual format string that the user needs to provide.

The format string is a combination of placeholders and literal characters that define how the region information should be formatted. The placeholders start with a percent sign (%) and are replaced with the corresponding values. Here are some commonly used placeholders:

• %x: The X coordinate of the selected region.
• %y: The Y coordinate of the selected region.
• %w: The width of the selected region.
• %h: The height of the selected region.

For example, if the format string is set to "%x,%y %w,%h", the slop command will output the selected region's X and Y coordinates followed by its width and height separated by a comma. The actual format string can be customized according to the user's needs.

In summary, the "slop -f ${format_string}" command is useful for interactively selecting screen regions and retrieving their coordinates and size in a specific format.