[Usability] [Fwd: shortcuts to move between desktops/workspaces]

[Calum Benson <calum benson sun com>]

Thought I'd forward this from the sawfish list-- it seemed to perfectly
embody the sort of usability problems we need to fix, like, now!!!

Cheeri,
Calum.

-- 
CALUM BENSON, Usability Engineer       Sun Microsystems Ireland
mailto:calum benson ireland sun com    Desktop Engineering Group
http://www.sun.ie                      +353 1 819 9771

Any opinions are personal and not necessarily those of Sun Microsystems

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• From: Erol Sahin <esahin ulb ac be>
• To: <sawfish lists eazel com>
• Subject: Re: shortcuts to move between desktops/workspaces
• Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 14:53:28 +0100 (CET)

Thanks for the replies. I was able to create the shortcuts
that I wanted to do. But I find the terms
virtual desktop/workspace/desktop/viewport
very confusing. Maybe someone can clarify what these exactly mean.
For instance in the configuration menu even if
I choose 1 workspace  with 1 column, 1 row, I still get 4 "workspaces"
which are displayed as 2x2 on my panel but is actually implemented
as 4x1.  If I choose 2 workspaces, I don't experience  any change.
If I choose 1 workspace with 2 columns, 2 rows, I get 16 workspaces.
Way too much.

It seems not possible to have 6 [3x2] workspaces, which I can configure
to move in between using "Left/Right/Up/Down Workspace" in 2D, not
"Previous/Next Workspace".

Erol


On Thu, 24 Jan 2002, Dave Baker wrote:

> On Thu, Jan 24, 2002 at 11:32:26AM +0100, Erol Sahin wrote:
> > All I want is to assign a shortcut to move between different
> > desktops or workspaces! First, it seems not possible to assign
> > shortcuts to move between desktops. Second, if I assign a
> > shortcut to move between workspaces, the active window is also
> > transported to the new workspace! Is this supposed to work
> > so, or am I just having a bad day?
> >
>
> I use global key bindings of:
>
>   A-1  --> Activate viewport: 1,1
>   A-2  --> Activate viewport: 2,1
>   ...
>
> This gives me Alt-1, through Alt-n to skip to viewports in a horizonally
> minded configuration.  My active window isn't transported but I do have
> some focus issues still to resolve whereby the previous window keeps focus
> unless a nwe window happens to land under where the cursor currently is.
>
> If memory serves, there's a sawfish hack on the lisp repository that
> remembers the last focussed window per workspace and refocusses it when
> you return.
>
> As for desktops, I believe there's an equivalent but I didn't notice it in
> a quick scan through the list of functions.
>
>
> Dave
>
>

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