=head1 whaw - window manager independent window layout tool

whaw is a program for X11 that can use advanced tiling algorithms and an
intuitive user interface to quickly lay out windows without having to replace
or modify the set up of your window manager of choice. whaw is meant to augment
the capabilities of your current window manager, not supplant them.


=head1 using whaw

whaw responds to the mouse moving into one of its control corners in order to not waste screen space yet always be accessible. A window placement operation consists of three steps.

=over

=item choosing a layout algorithm

=item choosing the windows to move/resize

=item choosing where to place the windows

=back

We shall describe these steps in more detail now.

=over

=item choosing a layout algorithm

Choosing the layout algorithm is combined with activating whaw. In order to
activate whaw, move the cursor into one of its activation corners, the
upper-left corner of the screen by default. You will see the cursor change to a
cross to let you know whaw has been activated. The two layout algorithms are
horizontal and vertical. to choose horizontal layout, move the mouse cursor
away from the corner horizontally, to choose vertical layout, move the cursor
away vertically. the cursor will change into a horizontal or vertical arrow to
indicate your choice. you can always change the layout algorithm by going back
into the corner. any whaw operation can be canceled at any point by pressing
the middle mouse button.

=item choosing the windows to move/resize

Use the mouse to left click on each window you want to add to your layout
group. as you click on each window, it should be moved off screen to let you
select windows underneath it.

=item choosing where to place the windows

The windows may be placed via a number of operations, to have the windows tiled
across the current screen, press the right mouse button. to have them placed in
a specific area with a specific size, use the left mouse button to drag out a
box. the windows will be placed inside this box.

=back

=head1 caveats

Some window managers fight whaw, although most can be made to work. let me know
if you are experiencing trouble with any particular window manager and what type of thing
you are seeing. the most common issues involve focus or window stacking order
not being set properly, there are many techniques to fix these sort of issues
specified by X11, ICCCM and freedesktop, sometimes it takes some care in
finding the combination that works properly for a given manager. Other window
managers with their own tiling algorithms (such as ion and ratpoison) cannot
work with whaw at all since their own algorithms take precedence.

=head1 testing

Whaw has been tested with the following systems: metacity (the default fedora
and gnome window manager), twm (the X11 classic) and no window manager at all.
for the hardcore. whaw should degrade gracefully by modifying its algorithms
from using a EWMH complaint window manager, to a ICCCM compliant one, all the
way to a nonexistent one.

=head1 author

Whaw was written by John Meacham who can be contacted at john@repetae.net

=head1 getting it

=item the homepage for whaw is http://repetae.net/john/computer/whaw

=item you can download it at http://repetae.net/john/computer/whaw/drop

=item the darcs repository is at http://repetae.net/john/repos/whaw

=item the changelog is at http://repetae.net/john/computer/whaw/Changelog.txt