Adopt tiled layouts

[mikedlr]

I would like that, if I have a layout that is already tiled, I can have tiling assistant adopt those windows as being tiled and edit them.

Briefly describe how the feature should work

Given two or more windows that are (approximately) touching and layed out looking as if they are tiled, I'd like to press a button and have tiling assystant load them into different tiled columns and rows so that they could be resized together.

Proposed algorithm.

1. select the top window - adopt it it as tiled
2. (maybe - I think this is a good idea) if there are small gaps at the edges, resize to eliminate
3. each of the spaces around the top window becomes a column or a row
4. look at the next top window, if it matches into one of the spaces around the previous window then adopt it as tiled there
5. repeat 2-5 for each remaining window until one is found which doesn't fit

There could be two triggers for this. a) entering tile editing mode could automatically do tile adoption as the mode is entered b)

Explain why this feature should be added

This would be especially useful for creating more complex tiling layouts where there are other tiling extensions which can create, but not properly manage, those layouts. E.g. there's another tiling extension Tactile, which provides hotkeys for rearrainging windows into tiled arrangements.

By allowing creation of tiled layouts with other extensions, code simplicity can be maintained in this extension.

Future improvements could include selecting which windows become tiled. which would replace and eliminate the "Can't enter 'Tile Editing Mode' if no tiled window is visible' message. That could improve UX by allowing users who haven't yet worked out the key combinations to come into tile editing mode where they could be made visible.

[Leleat]

entering tile editing mode could automatically do tile adoption

I do like this part and thought about something similiar as well (among other things to improve Tiling Assistant).

This would be especially useful for creating more complex tiling layouts where there are other tiling extensions which can create, but not properly manage, those layouts. E.g. there's another tiling extension Tactile, which provides hotkeys for rearrainging windows into tiled arrangements.

The extension system isn't really made for extensions to interact with each other. Ofc it's theoretically possible since all extensions live in gnome shell but that would require cooperation between the extension devs.

[mikedlr]

My belief is, and I admit it's entirely outside observation, that Tactile, the other extension I'm using, doesn't actually in any way take management of the windows that it moves around. It just changes their position and size as if that was done with the mouse. I think that means that there would be no need for interaction when adopting windows.

What doesn't seem to work well is using tactile to change window sizes of windows that Tiling-assistant has already tiled.

[Leleat]

Tactile, the other extension I'm using, doesn't actually in any way take management of the windows that it moves around. It just changes their position and size as if that was done with the mouse.

That's basically the same thing Tiling Assistant does. Only thing else that T-A does related to 'window management' is to save the old position/size so that it can restore them when needed. But to know when to save the position and size of windows, T-A needs to be the one to do the tiling.

What doesn't seem to work well is using tactile to change window sizes of windows that Tiling-assistant has already tiled.

That shouldn't be an issue. As mentioned, T-A, Tactile and all other tiling extension just programmatically move floating windows around. But in the end they are still floating windows. Although more 'hardcore' tiling extensions like pop-shell will automatically re-tile a window, if the window's size changes. But T-A doesn't do that.