Re: moving window handling into lisp

[martin rudalics <rudalics@gmx.at>]

 >>> The algorithm computes level by level in the second pass (ie on its
 >>> way down) how the windows should be sized. So you have the sizes for
 >>> all windows on that level at once.
 >> I still don't understand what a "level" is.
 >
 > All children to a window are on the same level.

So you want a routine to set the sizes of all children of a window?
What would you want to pass to that routine?  A list?

 > Do I understand you right, do you say: These should set the size
 > without any checking.

The new size of one window.  Applying the new sizes of all windows is
done transactionally, all at once (or none at all if there's a failure).

 > You can make a lisp copy of the configuration. This copy should
 > contain just the info needed to compute the new sizes. If you want the
 > sizes after deletion then just do not include the window you want to
 > delete in the copy.

And who does delete the window _and_ resize the remaining ones?

 > I guessed there must be some pointer (in a general sense) for each
 > frame to the root window. I do not know the actual implementation, but
 > I just glanced at it. Unfortunately it takes some time for me to read
 > C so I guess a little. I can see there is a Lisp_Object called
 > root_window in struct frame. This is the pointer I am talking about.
 >
 > My question (and suggestion) to you is this: Would it be possible to
 > temporarily replace the frames root_window with a new window when the
 > frame size gets so small that the window configuration does not fit?
 > Whether this is easy (or perhaps even possible) is of course dependent
 > on the details in this implementation.
 >
 > It depends on for example on how drawing of windows are done. Is
 > drawing of a frame something that starts from the frame and then goes
 > down to look at the windows? Or does the windows live a life on their
 > on in this regard? I have assumed the former when I suggested to just
 > swap the roor_window pointer. You know more about the implementation
 > details and can probably give a better answer.

It would get us into hell's kitchen to just swap some pointers.  The
more so because you want redisplay to happen in between.  What do you
think window-configurations have been invented for?

 > You seem to suggest that it would be hard to understand for the user.
 > In that case, why?

Because at the time the window-manager shrinks my Emacs frame I usually
want to work with some other application.

 >> You do undelete all the time.  It's completely transparent.
 >
 > How can it be transparent if windows disappears and reappears? I must
 > be misunderstanding you somehow...

There might be no redisplay in between.

 >>> - size-0 windows in a case like this would be the same.
 >> Many applications do that.
 >
 > Can you explain how you mean?

In many applications (Thunderbird is one of them) I can make subwindows
disappear completely by dragging one of their borders and make them
reappear later by dragging on the border where they disappeared.

martin