Openbox Windows tiling

[thanekrios]

I love Lubuntu, my only beef is with Openbox that doesn't provide Windows tiling (maybe that's not the right name for it? What I mean is when you drag your window to the left of the screen, and it automatically fills half the screen, or when you drag it to one of the corners and automatically fills 1/4 of the screen).

I would appreciate any help you can provide. Thank you very much.

[vasa1]

Openbox is a stacking window manager. However, with a little effort and compromise, you can get close to what you want. You can definitely get there with the keyboard.

You need to look at ~/.config/openbox/lubuntu-rc.xml. The keyboard section should have something of relevance.

Two links of interest:
https://pclosmag.com/html/Issues/201011/page09.html
and
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lu..._Using_a_Mouse (for an older Lubuntu but you get the idea)

[ditsara]

You can set hotkeys to tile windows into specific positions. For example, I use the following to map Win + left/right bracket to cover the left / right half of the screen:

    <keybind key="W-bracketright">
      <action name="MoveResizeTo">
        <x>-0</x>
        <y>0</y>
        <width>50%</width>
        <height>100%</height>
      </action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="W-bracketleft">
      <action name="MoveResizeTo">
        <x>0</x>
        <y>0</y>
        <width>50%</width>
        <height>100%</height>
      </action>
    </keybind>

Further reference: http://openbox.org/wiki/Help:Actions

[vasa1]

And from my old notes, this is what I used:

    <keybind key="W-Left">        # HalfLeftScreen
      <action name="Unmaximize"/>
      <action name="MoveResizeTo"><x>0</x><y>0</y><height>100%</height><width>50%</width></action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="W-Right">        # HalfRightScreen
      <action name="Unmaximize"/>
      <action name="MoveResizeTo"><x>0</x><y>0</y><height>100%</height><width>50%</width></action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="W-Up">        # HalfUpperScreen
      <action name="Unmaximize"/>
      <action name="MoveResizeTo"><x>0</x><y>0</y><width>100%</width><height>50%</height></action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="W-Down">        # HalfLowerScreen
      <action name="Unmaximize"/>
      <action name="MoveResizeTo"><x>0</x><y>0</y><width>100%</width><height>50%</height></action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="W-5">        # 50% width, height
      <action name="Unmaximize"/>
      <action name="MoveResizeTo"><x>center</x><y>center</y><width>50%</width><height>100%</height></action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="W-w">        # Center on screen
    <action name="MoveResizeTo"><x>center</x><y>center</y></action>
    </keybind>

Just make sure to back up your original and to run

openbox --reconfigure

each time you edit and save the file to make sure there aren't any parsing errors and to make the changes take effect at once without having to log out.

[thanekrios]

Outstanding! Seems like I am keeping Lubuntu after all. I guess I should have read the documentation first. Thank you!

PS: Is there a program with a GUI available to see all of this commands?

[thanekrios]

Ok this is what it looks like now:

<keybind key="W-a">
      <action name="MoveResizeTo">
        <x>0</x>
        <y>0</y>
        <width>50%</width>
        <height>50%</height>
      </action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="W-s">
      <action name="MoveResizeTo">
        <x>-0</x>
        <y>0</y>
        <width>50%</width>
        <height>50%</height>
      </action>
    </keybind>
<keybind key="W-z">
      <action name="MoveResizeTo">
        <x>0</x>
        <y>-0</y>
        <width>50%</width>
        <height>50%</height>
      </action>
    </keybind>
    <keybind key="W-x">
      <action name="MoveResizeTo">
        <x>-0</x>
        <y>-0</y>
        <width>50%</width>
        <height>50%</height>
      </action>
    </keybind>

Thank you all!

Just in case:

W+a sends it to the top left side
W+s to the top right side
W+z to bottom left side
W+x to bottom right side

[again?]

PS: Is there a program with a GUI available to see all of this commands?

HOW TO CREATE AND EDIT KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS IN LUBUNTU (OPENBOX)

[thanekrios]

Thank you! I appreciate all the help!