Re: [RP] Patch for frames et al...

[Ryan Yeske]

Mike Meyer <address@hidden> writes:

> Ryan Yeske <address@hidden> types:
> > I knew we should have never added split screen :)
> 
> Yeah - you attract people who want to use it like an X window manager
> and not a clone of screen :-).

The fact is we have split screen and people find it useful.  We *do*
need a way to make it work Right.

> I was about to explain how my vision of a framed window manager should
> work, and how that differed from the behavior that ratpoison has -
> which might help explain where this is coming from.
> 
> I think that each frame should act like an invocation of
> ratpoison. Once a window is opened in a frame, it stays in that frame
> until the user *explicitly* moves it. If I do "other" in one frame, I
> get the other window for that frame. If I then go to another window
> and do "other", I don't get the window I just hid in the previous
> frame, I get the "other" window for *that* frame. Likewise, "next" and
> "previous" walk through a list of windows associated with *that*
> frame, not all the windows.

OK, lemme make sure I'm reading right:

frame "Bob" has windows "b1", "b2", and "b3".
frame "Mary" has windows "m1", "m2", and "m3".

If I am in the "Mary" frame, I can cycle between (and only between)
"m1", "m2", and "m3" with the usual rp commands next, prev, and other.
If I want "Mary" to show "b1", I have to somehow move it from "Bob".

That seems sane to me, but I don't want to be forced to have windows
stick to frames *all* the time.  Perhaps the default should be as it
is, but make it possible to restrict a frame to only showing a subset
of windows.  So, initially, our frame "Bob" (and "Mary") can show all
windows, until we

:restrict Bob b1,b2,b3

or something, after which "Bob" can only show "b1","b2","b3".  Whether
or not this entails "Mary" now being restricted to the entire window
set minus ("b1", "b2", "b3") I don't know.  It might be useful to be
able to

:restrict Mary m1,b1

Or perhaps that's all backwards, and we should restrict windows to
frames:

:restrict b1 Bob,Mary
:restrict b2 Bob
:restrict b3 Bob
:restrict m1 Mary

My problem is that I can't really come up with real-world cases here,
since I don't have a frame/window management crisis myself.

Are the above suggestions compatible with your vision?

> I have no idea how screen behaves in regard to this kind of
> thing. I've been using primarily windowed environments since '86,
> and never really had much use for screen. The above behavior is how
> I've pictured paned window managers working since about '89, but
> paned windows manager are few and far between. I've no intention of
> trying to change the existing behavior of rp, except a part of
> adding new functionality.

Screen lets you split vertically and resize.  Also, since its all tty,
you can show the same "window" in multiple frames at the same time.  I
don't think there is any structure to it other than that.

Ryan