whaw - window manager independent window layout tool
whaw is a program for X11 that can use advanced tiling algorithms and an intuitive user interface to quickly lay out windows without having to replace or modify the set up of your window manager of choice. whaw is meant to augment the capabilities of your current window manager, not supplant them.
using whaw
whaw responds to the mouse moving into one of its control corners in order to not waste screen space yet always be accessible. A window placement operation consists of three steps.
choosing a layout algorithm
choosing the windows to move/resize
choosing where to place the windows
We shall describe these steps in more detail now.
choosing a layout algorithm
Choosing the layout algorithm is combined with activating whaw. In
order to activate whaw, move the cursor into one of its activation
corners, the upper-left corner of the screen by default. You will
see the cursor change to a cross to let you know whaw has been
activated. The two layout algorithms are horizontal and vertical. to
choose horizontal layout, move the mouse cursor away from the corner
horizontally, to choose vertical layout, move the cursor away
vertically. the cursor will change into a horizontal or vertical
arrow to indicate your choice. you can always change the layout
algorithm by going back into the corner. any whaw operation can be
canceled at any point by pressing the middle mouse button.
choosing the windows to move/resize
Use the mouse to left click on each window you want to add to your
layout group. as you click on each window, it should be moved off
screen to let you select windows underneath it.
choosing where to place the windows
The windows may be placed via a number of operations, to have the
windows tiled across the current screen, press the right mouse
button. to have them placed in a specific area with a specific size,
use the left mouse button to drag out a box. the windows will be
placed inside this box.
caveats
Some window managers fight whaw, although most can be made to work. let me know if you are experiencing trouble with any particular window manager and what type of thing you are seeing. the most common issues involve focus or window stacking order not being set properly, there are many techniques to fix these sort of issues specified by X11, ICCCM and freedesktop, sometimes it takes some care in finding the combination that works properly for a given manager. Other window managers with their own tiling algorithms (such as ion and ratpoison) cannot work with whaw at all since their own algorithms take precedence.
testing
Whaw has been tested with the following systems: metacity (the default fedora and gnome window manager), twm (the X11 classic) and no window manager at all. for the hardcore. whaw should degrade gracefully by modifying its algorithms from using a EWMH complaint window manager, to a ICCCM compliant one, all the way to a nonexistent one.
author
Whaw was written by John Meacham who can be contacted at john@repetae.net
getting it
the homepage for whaw is http://repetae.net/john/computer/whaw you can download it at http://repetae.net/john/computer/whaw/drop the darcs repository is at http://repetae.net/john/repos/whaw