X Tile systematically arranges windows on the desktop

Configuration

The configuration for X Tile is simple, but it does include some very important settings. As shown in Figure 4, most settings are relatively obvious. The current work space only option is particularly important for preserving the overview on multiple virtual desktops.

Figure 4: The configuration is straightforward but does include important options.

The dock in system tray option lodges the main window in a panel, which is typical and practical. As an alternative, you can control X Tile via options when calling the program from the command line. Table 1 summarizes these options. Most of these are used without a leading minus character. The exception to this rule of thumb is -h .

Table 1

Command-Line Parameters

Command	Description
x-tile -h	Display help
x-tile w	Display main window
x-tile z	Undo
x-tile i	Invert Tiling sequence
x-tile y	Rotate Tiling sequence
x-tile v	Tile all open windows vertically
x-tile h	Tile all open windows horizontally
x-tile g Z S	Tile all open windows in a grid with Z lines and S columns
x-tile 1	Custom tile <1> all open windows
x-tile 2	Custom tile <2> all open windows
x-tile u	Tile all open windows using Layout u
x-tile d	Tile all open windows using Layout d
x-tile l	Tile all open windows using Layout l
x-tile r	Tile all open windows using Layout r
x-tile q	Quad tile all open windows
x-tile m	Maximize all open windows
x-tile M	Minimize all open windows
x-tile c	Close all open windows

The l , r , u , and d layout options are used to arrange the windows into a triangle, where each edge is assigned a larger window.

In addition to mouse functions, X Tile also supports a series of keyboard shortcuts. Table 2 summarizes the most important functions. Once learned, these shortcuts can speed up work significantly.

Table 2

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Description
Ctrl+Q	Close program
Alt+Ctrl+P	Configure program
Ctrl+F	Call configuration filter
F5	Reload window list
Ctrl+D	Always select window
Shift+Ctrl+Q	Leave program
Ctrl+A	Select all windows
Shift+Ctrl+A	Select none of the windows
Ctrl+Up arrow	Move window up in the list
Ctrl+Down arrow	Move window down in the list
Ctrl+Z	Undo Tiling (Undo)
Ctrl+I	Invert Tiling
Ctrl+Y	Cycle Tiling order
Ctrl+V	Tile vertically
Ctrl+H	Tile horizontally
Ctrl+G	Grid Tiling (Grid)
Alt+ 1	Define pattern 1
Ctrl+ 1	Call pattern 1
Alt+ 2	Define pattern 2
Ctrl+ 2	Call pattern 2
Ctrl+M	Maximize checked window
Ctrl+U	Minimize checked window
Ctrl+Y	Close checked window

Still more possibilities exist for influencing the behavior of the software. For example, in the File menu, you can use Filter together with the title of a window to exclude a particular window. The View option lets you change the display for the tool list. If necessary, you can change the sequence in the window list with the mouse via drag and drop. This can be important when you want to be effective in using the triangle layout and the tile cycle function.

Conclusion

X Tile enriches the modern desktop. Even users who are not big fans of tiling will quickly understand that it has many advantages – especially the customized layout feature.

This program also has a lot of applications, because it can be used both interactively and via the command line. X Tile is not in itself a window manager, but instead expands what is available by adding functionality. As a result, it has a very smooth learning curve.

Infos