snap

Window Snapping Utility for Openbox

I could not find a Window snapping utility for Openbox that I was happy with, so I wrote my own.

Installation

• Place snap in your path.
• Add Keybindings to Openbox via your Openbox rc.xml.

<!-- Keybindings for snap: Example using Super+Arrow -->
<keybind key="W-Left">
    <action name="Execute">
        <command>snap -sl</command>
    </action>
</keybind>
<keybind key="W-Right">
    <action name="Execute">
        <command>snap -sr</command>
    </action>
</keybind>
<keybind key="W-Up">
    <action name="Execute">
        <command>snap -su</command>
    </action>
</keybind>
<keybind key="W-Down">
    <action name="Execute">                                                                   
        <command>snap -sd</command>
    </action>
</keybind>
<keybind key="W-C-Left">
    <action name="Execute">
        <command>snap -ml</command>
    </action>
</keybind>
<keybind key="W-C-Right">
    <action name="Execute">
        <command>snap -mr</command>
    </action>
</keybind>

How it works

Usage: snap [-s <l|r|u|d>] [-m <l|r>]
 -s     snap direction
        supports left, right, up, and down
 -m     move direction
        supports left and rught

Think of each monitor as a 3x3 grid, with a special case of maximized...

               ________________
               |              |
               |   maximized  |
               |     0,2      |
_______________|______________|_______________
|              |              |              |
|   top-left   |   full top   |   top-right  |
|     -1,1     |     0,1      |     1,1      |
|______________|______________|______________|
|              |              |              |
|  full left   |   original   |  full right  |
|     -1,0     |     0,0      |     1,0      |
|______________|______________|______________|
|              |              |              |
|  bottom-left | full bottom  | bottom right |
|    -1,-1     |     0,-1     |     1,-1     |
|______________|______________|______________|

• Each window, regardless of its starting position, is initially in its original, unsnapped position at (0,0).
• Moving a window using snap -s <direction> will snap the window to the appropriate grid position, with each of the 4 full grid positions taking up the entire half of the screen.
• After being snapped to a full position, a window can be snapped further to a corner position.
• To return a window to its original position, simply snap it back to the original (0,0) grid location.
• Additionally, manually moving a window from its snapped position (dragging, for example) will remove its stored snapped state.
• You can move a window from one monitor to another using snap -m <direction>. Doing so will mvoe the original position to that monitor.

Limitations

For multi-monitor setups, the following assumptions are made:

• Only 2 monitors are present.
• Monitors are arranged horizontally.
• Monitors all have the same resolution.
• Panels are present on every monitor, in the same location, and of the same size.

Future Improvements

• Support more than 2 monitors.
• Support monitors of differring sizes.
• Support monitors of differring resolutions.
• Support for varying panel sizes and locations.
• Automated installer.
• Ability to resize/snap to thirds, rather than halfs.