Can I assign a function key (F1, F2..) to a running application in Ubuntu?

Question

I would really like to switch between applications faster. Using Alt + Tab doesn't do the job for me. Is there a way I can utilize the function keys on the keyboard?

For example if I had terminal, Eclipse and Chrome open, I would really like if I can assign keys like F1, F2 and F3 respectively.

Answer 1

The only way I can currently think of is:

• Getting a good hotkey editor (I think Ubuntu has this built in)

• Write small scripts that will be run by each command. For instance set F1 in the hotkey program to run the f1.sh script. The f1.sh script would request focus from a window with the name specified. For example (I haven't tested this, using something like wmctrl):

  wmctrl -a google-chrome
  

  Alternatively, you could even just tell your hotkey program to execute the command directly instead of writing it to a file.