GopherProxy

	index.md - sites - public wiki contents of suckless.org
	git clone git://git.suckless.org/sites
	Log
	Files
	Refs
	---
	index.md (8737B)
	---
	1 xtile
	2 =====
	3
	4 Description
	5 -----------
	6 This patch implements a generalization of the tile layout which adds two
	7 attributes (direction and fact) to three areas (global, master, stack). …
	8 global area is the entire allocatable visual space and it's subdivided i…
	9 master and stack subareas.
	10
	11 The direction of the global area controls the position of the master area
	12 relatively to the stack area and it can be one of `DirHor` (traditional …
	13 stack), `DirVer` (bottom stack), `DirRotHor` (left stack) and `DirRotVer…
	14 stack). The direction of the master and of the stack areas are independe…
	15 set and can be one of `DirHor` and `DirVer`. This combines to a total of
	16 4\2\2=16 layouts.
	17
	18 The fact numbers indicate the relative size of the first subarea/client …
	19 the direction of the considered area (i.e. width for `DirHor` and `DirRo…
	20 and height for `DirVer` and `DirRotVer`). A fact of 1 means that the fir…
	21 subarea/client is on par the rest, while a fact of 2 means that its size…
	22 double the size of each of the remaining subareas/clients, etc. So the f…
	23 the global area is similar to the traditional mfact in the sense that it
	24 manages the relative allocation of visual space between the master and s…
	25 subareas, while the fact for the master area stands for the relative imp…
	26 of the first master client against the rest of masters and, similarly, t…
	27 for the stack area stands for the importance of the first slave client in
	28 relation to the rest of slaves.
	29
	30 xtile adds two new commands to dwm: `setdir` and `setfact` (which supers…
	31 `setmfact`). Both commands take an array of three values (of type `int` …
	32 `setdir` and `float` for `setfact`), one value for each area (the first …
	33 the global area, the second one for the master area and the third one fo…
	34 stack area). If you pass the value `v` as `INC(v)` it will be taken as a
	35 relative increment to be added to the current value, otherwise it will b…
	36 as an absolute value. Usually the resulting value will be truncated to t…
	37 valid range of values for each area/attribute combination, but relative
	38 increments for directions wrap around the limits of the valid range. Not…
	39 that INC(0) means "do nothing here", so it gives you a way to easily mod…
	40 value for some area while leaving the rest untouched.
	41
	42 Default key bindings
	43 --------------------
	44 The areas are selected by modifiers as follows:
	45
	46 Modifier Area
	47 --------------------------------------------------------
	48 MODKEY Global
	49 MODKEY+Shift Master
	50 MODKEY+Control Stack
	51 MODKEY+Shift+Control All three areas simultaneously
	52
	53 Each of the modifiers then combines with each of the following keys up t…
	54 total of 4\*3=12 key bindings:
	55
	56 Key Function
	57 ------------------------------
	58 r Rotate direction
	59 h Decrement fact by 10%.
	60 l Increment fact by 10%.
	61
	62 There are two provided default "presets" or "schemas" also:
	63
	64 Modifier Key Preset
	65 --------------------------------------:
	66 MODKEY+Shift t Right stack
	67 MODKEY+Control t Bottom stack
	68
	69 These presets allow to quickly switch between different no-nonsense tili…
	70 avoiding the need to rotate through all the nonsense combinations in-bet…
	71 But notice that `MODKEY+Shift+Control+r` (i.e. simultaneously rotate all…
	72 areas) usually produces sensible layouts (due to the way directions were
	73 designed to rotate).
	74
	75 You can also easily define your own presets by calling `setdir` and `set…
	76 as needed. For example, here is the configuration code for the default p…
	77 described above:
	78
	79 { MODKEY\|ShiftMask, XK_t, setdirs, {.v = (int[]){ DirHor, DirV…
	80 { MODKEY\|ControlMask, XK_t, setdirs, {.v = (int[]){ DirVer, DirH…
	81
	82 Layout symbol
	83 -------------
	84
	85 The layout symbol will probably look cryptic at first sight but it's very
	86 easily decoded. It consists of three characters, one for the direction o…
	87 area:
	88
	89 * Global area: '<', '>', 'v', '^', just think of it as an arrow that poi…
	90 direction of the master area.
	91 * Master area: '\|' for vertically tiled masters and '-' for horizontally…
	92 * Stack area: same as for the master area.
	93
	94 For example, '<\|\|' stands for the default right stack tile provided by d…
	95 '^--' stands for bstack (as defined by the bottom stack patch).
	96
	97 Digressions
	98 -----------
	99
	100 ### Why facts per area?
	101
	102 There is some arbitrariness in the way facts are defined by xtile: why f…
	103 for the first master and the first slave and not, say, for the first two
	104 clients instead? Considering that most real life layouts will have one o…
	105 masters and a variable number of slaves, the road xtile took will enable…
	106 user to effectively control the relative size of the three/four most imp…
	107 clients in a very intuitive way that built on his previous understanding…
	108 mfact and the master and stack area concepts. OTOH it's not clear to me …
	109 allow the specification of facts for the first two clients in an intuiti…
	110
	111 * If there is only one master this alternative approach is equivalent to
	112 xtile's one.
	113 * If there are two masters, only one fact will be required to specify th…
	114 of the master area that belongs to each one, so what to do with the se…
	115 fact?
	116 * If this second fact is taken as the share of the second master vs the …
	117 of the rest (the slaves), it's not clear how to define these inter-are…
	118
	119 ### Why not deck area?
	120
	121 One obvious additional generalization would have been to extrapolate the
	122 nmaster idea to all three areas, or at least to the stack area. So if you
	123 allowed only m masters and n slaves you would end up with m+n tiled wind…
	124 with the rest of the clients in the current tagset stacked or decked "be…
	125 the last tiled client. flextile, clients-per-tag and deck patches provide
	126 variations on this kind of layout. I've also implemented a version of xt…
	127 that supports it and even subsumes monocle, but I think this promotes a …
	128 pattern of usage. Coupled with stack manipulation operations as the ones
	129 provided by the stacker or push patches, there is the temptation to mana…
	130 visibility by moving the desired clients in the current tagset to the fi…
	131 visible positions of the focus stack (not to be confused with the stack …
	132 There are a number of problems with this approach:
	133
	134 * The stack is global to dwm, so pushing around clients in one tag will
	135 rearrange them in other tags also. This could become a problem if you …
	136 much on explicit stack management.
	137
	138 * The deck area badly violates the principle of least surprise. If you o…
	139 change focus sequentially by using `mod-j`/`mod-k` there is no way to …
	140 deck at a client different to the last/first decked one. If you use th…
	141 or the `focusstack` command provided by the stacker patch to jump dire…
	142 the deck to a non-decked client, each time you reach the deck again by…
	143 `mod-j`/`mod-k` the visible decked client will be replaced by the firs…
	144 decked one. In general, there is a devilish interplay of the focus sta…
	145 the z-stack that makes the deck unusable as a tabbed view of the decked
	146 clients, at least for more than one or two decked clients.
	147
	148 Fortunately, dwm provides a much better mechanism to restrict visibility…
	149 IMO there is no need to provide a half-assed alternative to one of dwm's
	150 strongest selling points.
	151
	152 Mandatory dependencies:
	153 * [pertag](../pertag/): we all know this one.
	154
	155 Download
	156 --------
	157 * [dwm-xtile-6.2.diff](dwm-xtile-6.2.diff) (11/06/2020)
	158 * [dwm-6.0-xtile.diff](dwm-6.0-xtile.diff)
	159
	160 Recommended complementary patches:
	161 ----------------------------------
	162 Gaps
	163 ----
	164 Added a new patch with separate inner and outer gaps which can be adjust…
	165 at runtime. Also includes an option to disable gaps when only one window…
	166 is open (on by default.)
	167
	168 `Mod+Shift+i/o - increase size (i - inner, o - outer)`
	169 `Mod+Control+i/o - decrease size (i - inner, o - outer)`
	170 `Mod+Shift+Control+i/o - disable gaps (i - inner, o - outer)`
	171
	172 Download
	173 --------
	174 * [dwm-xtile-gaps-6.2.diff](dwm-xtile-gaps-6.2.diff) (15/06/2020)
	175 * Visit [gaps](../gaps/) page for older versions.
	176
	177 Stacker
	178 -------
	179 A patch to better accommodate the clients to the more elaborate layouts …
	180 by xtile. But I would add: subject to the caveats that I've expressed ab…
	181
	182 Download
	183 --------
	184 * Visit [stacker](../stacker/) page to download. (6.2 version available)
	185
	186 Patches related to xtile:
	187 [bottom stack](../bottomstack/), [flextile](../flextile/),
	188 [cfacts](../cfacts/), [stackmfact](../stackmfact/).
	189
	190
	191 Authors
	192 -------
	193 * MLquest8 (gaps and update for 6.2) (miskuzius at gmail.com)
	194 * Carlos Pita (memeplex) <[email protected]>