xfwm4 Tiling - Maximize Windows

weasL · 2013-05-22 18:32:45

First: I like XFCE, I use it all the day at work and in my opinion it is the best DE for a "Power User".

But: There is one thing that annoys me, the tiling behaviour when dragging windows to the top.
I think most people expect that the window gets maximized (like in Windows, with Compiz, in KDE).
I use 3 monitors and move windows often around, then it would be much better when you could maximize the window when you just drag it to the top.
Is there a chance that this feature gets implemented?
Maybe a config option that the user can select the tiling behaviour?

k-bag · 2013-05-22 21:03:55

Hi.

You can easily define a keyboard shortcut for maximization into the window manager parameters.

weasL · 2013-05-22 22:16:49

Yes thats right, but it feels "not right".
I you use several pcs and use this "move" to maximize windows because it is almost standard (even in Windows) and then you switch so XFCE, make that "move" you get an unexcepted behaviour.
First time I used the tiling in 4.10 it confuses me, I searched hours to find a solution to change this behavior, and I ended up with installing compiz.
So i hope there will be an option to change this in the future.

stqn · 2013-05-23 12:40:13

Perhaps you could switch to the standard way of maximising windows, double clicking on the title bar.

MountainDewManiac · 2013-05-23 18:20:30

stqn wrote:

Perhaps you could switch to the standard way of maximising windows, double clicking on the title bar.

...or clicking on the "Maximize/Restore" button on the end of the title bar, or pressing Alt-Space and typing x (or selecting Maximize from the list). Do we really need a fourth way to do this when the older, long-used methods work just fine (and which are not "almost standard," but are "actually standard")?

I don't have anything against providing multiple ways to do the same thing, per se, but shouldn't there be a point where people say, "101 ways to skin a dead cat are plenty, and any further effort to come up with yet another way is just wasted effort that would be better spent on something useful," lol?

I'd feel differently about this particular example if it did something useful in addition to maximizing - such as if a person has multiple monitors and wanted a function that both maximized the window and sent it to monitor #3, for example. But as it is being discussed now... <SCRATCHES HEAD> There's not much point in moving the window to the top (/bottom/left side/center/...) of the screen if you're just going to maximize it at the same time, is there?

Speaking of which, is there a convenient way to disable this... feature so that I don't end up inadvertantly stretching the window from the left edge of the screen all the way across to the right edge when I only wish to move it to the top of my display but (apparently) move my mouse cursor a tenth of a fraction of a quarter of an inch to far? It's extremely annoying.

Last edited by MountainDewManiac (2013-05-23 18:21:42)

stqn · 2013-05-23 18:47:32

MountainDewManiac wrote:

Speaking of which, is there a convenient way to disable this... feature so that I don't end up inadvertantly stretching the window from the left edge of the screen all the way across to the right edge when I only wish to move it to the top of my display but (apparently) move my mouse cursor a tenth of a fraction of a quarter of an inch to far? It's extremely annoying.

In Settings -> Window Manager Tweaks -> Accessibility, disable “Automatically tile windows when moving towards the screen edge”.

MountainDewManiac · 2013-05-23 19:28:58

Thank you, stqn.

Re: The OP's question... Since this behavior can be turned on and off at the user's discretion, I wonder if it's also configurable to any extent (such as to do what he wishes it to do) somewhere in a file?

stqn · 2013-05-23 21:07:46

AFAIK any hidden configuration options would be accessible with xfconf-query. In this case:

xfconf-query -l -c xfwm4

The only option related to tiling I see is “/general/tile_on_move”.

debinux · 2014-03-19 05:33:47

Hi,

I found this topic and felt like sharing my little patch is a good thing to do:

You can modify src/client.c of xfwm4 to behave like this. Search for "tile_up" in this file and find this on line ~3152:

        switch (tile)
        {
            case TILE_UP:
                tmp_h = full_h;
                tmp_y = full_y / 2;
                clientMaxSpace (screen_info, &full_x, &tmp_y, &full_w, &tmp_h);
                wc->y = tmp_y + frameTop (c);
                wc->height = tmp_h - frameTop (c) - frameBottom (c);
                break;

Change it to

        switch (tile)
        {
            case TILE_UP:
                clientToggleMaximized (c, CLIENT_FLAG_MAXIMIZED_VERT, TRUE);
                break;

apurkrt · 2014-08-31 21:49:42

+1 for the maximization by dragging to top.

Why? It is very convenient and easy to do with a mouse, simply better than other currently available methods to maximize a window. It is less strain on a wrist in comparison to double click. It is just one click, hold, and a very fault-tolerant drag - you don't have to focus on staying on one place with the mouse as with doubleclick, you just "hit" a rather large window title and then drag easily; the whole operation is just so much more relaxed than double clicking. It is also faster to hit large title than a rather small maximize button. The keyboard shortcut is a "different game" (and not a faster one), sometimes you just want to get the thing done with a mouse. Just my two cents.

I wonder what number of users uses the current behaviour - vertical halving. Actually, can't think of a good example where "noodle-like" window is useful, especialy given currently ubiquitous 16:9 monitors. (Horizontal halving by dragging to sides makes sense to me)

PS: Writing about the window control buttons - it would be great, if the close button of a maximized window was positioned and clickable in the (absolute) top right corner of screen, since it is "easy to hit" there, see e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts%27s_ … n_hotspots (guess I'm not the only one that have no panels on top). Also, oblong (non-square) buttons would be nice, easier to hit 1) thanks to size 2) mouse movements are more precise in vertical than in horizontal direction (my experience).

Last edited by apurkrt (2014-09-01 19:57:14)

Osbios · 2014-09-10 00:58:30

Can't we have everything? Like using the left mouse button for fullscreen and the right mouse button for tilling?

Right now I can't till a fullscreen windows because for some "reason" then it MUST go to fullscreen again if you touch the top. So you must un-fullscreen the windows first befor tilling works... so basically both features are broken in some way.

Also it would be really nice to be able to use the corners to till a windows to 1/4 of the screen. So you can till to 8 different positions/sizes instead of only 4.

Example of 1/4 windows size:

Example of trigger arrays:

PaperNick · 2014-09-10 07:58:31

debinux wrote:

Hi,
I found this topic and felt like sharing my little patch is a good thing to do:
You can modify src/client.c of xfwm4 to behave like this. Search for "tile_up" in this file and find this on line ~3152:

I've been trying to change this behaviour for quite some time. Can you tell me which file I need to modify in order to make the change? I cannot find "src/client.c".

Thanks!

apurkrt · 2014-09-10 09:24:20

PaperNick wrote:

I've been trying to change this behaviour for quite some time. Can you tell me which file I need to modify in order to make the change? I cannot find "src/client.c".

You would need to re-compile xfwm4, which requires some expertise, it is not a simple config file change. The "src/client.c" refers to C source code of xfwm4.

Last edited by apurkrt (2014-09-10 09:27:04)

apurkrt · 2014-09-10 09:43:19

Btw, tried the patch by debinux, it basically works, but is not completely clean.

Originally, you can try various different positions by dragging the window around (you could try top, left, right, then top again etc.), all while holding down the mouse button. With the patch, once you try the maximization by hitting the top (once clientToggleMaximized (..) is executed), dragging to sides becomes unresponsive during the same drag (i.e. until you release the mouse).

Last edited by apurkrt (2014-09-10 09:47:49)

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#1 2013-05-22 18:32:45

xfwm4 Tiling - Maximize Windows

#2 2013-05-22 21:03:55

Re: xfwm4 Tiling - Maximize Windows

#3 2013-05-22 22:16:49

Re: xfwm4 Tiling - Maximize Windows

#4 2013-05-23 12:40:13

Re: xfwm4 Tiling - Maximize Windows

#5 2013-05-23 18:20:30

Re: xfwm4 Tiling - Maximize Windows

#6 2013-05-23 18:47:32

Re: xfwm4 Tiling - Maximize Windows

#7 2013-05-23 19:28:58

Re: xfwm4 Tiling - Maximize Windows

#8 2013-05-23 21:07:46

Re: xfwm4 Tiling - Maximize Windows

#9 2014-03-19 05:33:47

Re: xfwm4 Tiling - Maximize Windows

#10 2014-08-31 21:49:42

Re: xfwm4 Tiling - Maximize Windows

#11 2014-09-10 00:58:30

Re: xfwm4 Tiling - Maximize Windows

#12 2014-09-10 07:58:31

Re: xfwm4 Tiling - Maximize Windows

#13 2014-09-10 09:24:20

Re: xfwm4 Tiling - Maximize Windows

#14 2014-09-10 09:43:19

Re: xfwm4 Tiling - Maximize Windows

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