Declarative layouts

[waj]

Maybe this is related to #260 and #465, but I'm not entirely sure.

I'd like to have some way to specify layouts for some workspaces. For example, my primary working workspace could be defined as something like:

h_tiles
  v_tiles
    h_tiles [terminal]
    h_accordion [browsers]
  v_accordion [editors]

Names between brackets could be used as a target to move nodes. So for example I could declare an on-window-detected rule to move editors and run move-node-to-workspace W.editors.

Of course this might imply that named nodes (or nodes that contain named ones) should never be normalized, so this might be a little tricky.

Is this solved already in any other window manager?

[nikitabobko]

Yes, I had ideas like this in scope of #260. #260 doesn't explicitly mention it but I agree that the declarative syntax should be capable of gathering windows into nodes by some kind of predicate (app bundle id, window title, etc.)

[nikitabobko]

Ahh, sorry, I misunderstood your post. You want to have named nodes that could be used as targets. (right now, all nodes are anonymous)

Well, with the introduction of declarative layouts, I see how nodes become more stable, and maybe we indeed could attach names to them.

Of course this might imply that named nodes (or nodes that contain named ones) should never be normalized, so this might be a little tricky.

My idea was that the applied declarative layout is already a normalization of its own. The declarative config could specify if it applies the existing normalizations (enable-normalization-flatten-containers, enable-normalization-opposite-orientation-for-nested-containers) on top of it or not.

I am fine making the existing normalizations workspace-wide (contrary to how they are a global switch right now)