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grid

​
Move/resize windows within a grid
The grid partitions your screens for the purposes of window management. The default layout of the grid is 3 columns by 3 rows. You can specify different grid layouts for different screens and/or screen resolutions.
Windows that are aligned with the grid have their location and size described as a cell. Each cell is an hs.geometry rect with these fields:
  • x - The column of the left edge of the window
  • y - The row of the top edge of the window
  • w - The number of columns the window occupies
  • h - The number of rows the window occupies
For a grid of 3x3:
  • a cell '0,0 1x1' will be in the upper-left corner
  • a cell '2,0 1x1' will be in the upper-right corner
  • and so on...
Additionally, a modal keyboard driven interface for interactive resizing is provided via hs.grid.show(); The grid will be overlaid on the focused or frontmost window's screen with keyboard hints. To resize/move the window, you can select the corner cells of the desired position. For a move-only, you can select a cell and confirm with 'return'. The selected cell will become the new upper-left of the window. You can also use the arrow keys to move the window onto adjacent screens, and the tab/shift-tab keys to cycle to the next/previous window. Once you selected a cell, you can use the arrow keys to navigate through the grid. In this case, the grid will highlight the selected cells. After highlighting enough cells, press enter to move/resize the window to the highlighted area.

API Overview

API Documentation

Variables

​HINTS​

Signature
hs.grid.HINTS
Type
Variable
Description
A bidimensional array (table of tables of strings) holding the keyboard hints (as per hs.keycodes.map) to be used for the interactive resizing interface.
Notes
  • hs.inspect(hs.grid.HINTS) from the console will show you how the table is built
  • hs.grid.show() When displaying interactive grid, if gird dimensions (hs.grid.setGrid()) are greater than HINTS dimensions, then Hammerspoon merges few cells such that interactive grid dimensions do not exceed HINTS dimensions. This is done to make sure interactive grid cells do not run out of hints. The interactive grid ends up with cells of varying height and width. The actual grid is not affected. If you use API methods like hs.grid.pushWindowDown(), you will not face this issue at all. If you have a grid of higher dimensions and require an interactive gird that accurately models underlying grid then set HINTS variable to a table that has same dimensions as your grid. Following is an example of grid that has 16 columns

​ui​

Signature
hs.grid.ui
Type
Variable
Description
Allows customization of the modal resizing grid user interface

Functions

Signature
hs.grid.adjustWindow(fn, window) -> hs.grid
Type
Function
Description
Calls a user specified function to adjust a window's cell
Parameters
  • fn - a function that accepts a cell object as its only argument. The function should modify it as needed and return nothing
  • window - an hs.window object to act on; if omitted, the focused or frontmost window will be used
Returns
  • the hs.grid module for method chaining

​get​

Signature
hs.grid.get(win) -> cell
Type
Function
Description
Gets the cell describing a window
Parameters
  • an hs.window object to get the cell of
Returns
  • a cell object (i.e. an hs.geometry rect), or nil if an error occurred

​getCell​

Signature
hs.grid.getCell(cell, screen) -> hs.geometry
Type
Function
Description
Gets the hs.geometry rect for a cell on a particular screen
Parameters
  • cell - a cell object, i.e. an hs.geometry rect or argument to construct one
  • screen - an hs.screen object or argument to hs.screen.find() where the cell is located
Returns
  • the hs.geometry rect for a cell on a particular screen or nil if the screen isn't found

​getGrid​

Signature
hs.grid.getGrid(screen) -> hs.geometry size
Type
Function
Description
Gets the defined grid size for a given screen or screen resolution
Parameters
  • screen - an hs.screen object, or a valid argument to hs.screen.find(), indicating the screen to get the grid of; if omitted or nil, gets the default grid, which is used when no specific grid is found for any given screen/resolution
Returns
  • an hs.geometry size object indicating the number of columns and rows in the grid
Notes
  • if a grid was not set for the specified screen or geometry, the default grid will be returned
Signature
hs.grid.getGridFrame(screen) -> hs.geometry rect
Type
Function
Description
Gets the defined grid frame for a given screen or screen resolution.
Parameters
  • screen - an hs.screen object, or a valid argument to hs.screen.find(), indicating the screen to get the grid frame of
Returns
  • an hs.geometry rect object indicating the frame used by the grid for the given screen; if no custom frame was given via hs.grid.setGrid(), returns the screen's frame

​hide​

Signature
hs.grid.hide()
Type
Function
Description
Hides the grid, if visible, and exits the modal resizing mode.
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • None
Notes
  • If an exit callback was provided when invoking the modal interface, calling .hide() will call it
Signature
hs.grid.maximizeWindow(window) -> hs.grid
Type
Function
Description
Moves and resizes a window to fill the entire grid
Parameters
  • window - an hs.window object to act on; if omitted, the focused or frontmost window will be used
Returns
  • the hs.grid module for method chaining
Signature
hs.grid.pushWindowDown(window) -> hs.grid
Type
Function
Description
Moves a window one grid cell down the screen, or onto the adjacent screen's grid when necessary
Parameters
  • window - an hs.window object to act on; if omitted, the focused or frontmost window will be used
Returns
  • the hs.grid module for method chaining
Signature
hs.grid.pushWindowLeft(window) -> hs.grid
Type
Function
Description
Moves a window one grid cell to the left, or onto the adjacent screen's grid when necessary
Parameters
  • window - an hs.window object to act on; if omitted, the focused or frontmost window will be used
Returns
  • the hs.grid module for method chaining
Signature
hs.grid.pushWindowRight(window) -> hs.grid
Type
Function
Description
Moves a window one cell to the right, or onto the adjacent screen's grid when necessary
Parameters
  • window - an hs.window object to act on; if omitted, the focused or frontmost window will be used
Returns
  • the hs.grid module for method chaining
Signature
hs.grid.pushWindowUp(window) -> hs.grid
Type
Function
Description
Moves a window one grid cell up the screen, or onto the adjacent screen's grid when necessary
Parameters
  • window - an hs.window object to act on; if omitted, the focused or frontmost window will be used
Returns
  • the hs.grid module for method chaining
Signature
hs.grid.resizeWindowShorter(window) -> hs.grid
Type
Function
Description
Resizes a window so its bottom edge moves one grid cell higher
Parameters
  • window - an hs.window object to act on; if omitted, the focused or frontmost window will be used
Returns
  • the hs.grid module for method chaining
Signature
hs.grid.resizeWindowTaller(window) -> hs.grid
Type
Function
Description
Resizes a window so its bottom edge moves one grid cell lower
Parameters
  • window - an hs.window object to act on; if omitted, the focused or frontmost window will be used
Returns
  • the hs.grid module for method chaining
Notes
  • if the window hits the bottom edge of the screen and is asked to become taller, its top edge will shift further up
Signature
hs.grid.resizeWindowThinner(window) -> hs.grid
Type
Function
Description
Resizes a window to be one cell thinner
Parameters
  • window - an hs.window object to act on; if omitted, the focused or frontmost window will be used
Returns
  • the hs.grid module for method chaining
Signature
hs.grid.resizeWindowWider(window) -> hs.grid
Type
Function
Description
Resizes a window to be one cell wider
Parameters
  • window - an hs.window object to act on; if omitted, the focused or frontmost window will be used
Returns
  • the hs.grid module for method chaining
Notes
  • if the window hits the right edge of the screen and is asked to become wider, its left edge will shift further left

​set​

Signature
hs.grid.set(win, cell, screen) -> hs.grid
Type
Function
Description
Sets the cell for a window on a particular screen
Parameters
  • win - an hs.window object representing the window to operate on
  • cell - a cell object, i.e. an hs.geometry rect or argument to construct one, to apply to the window
  • screen - (optional) an hs.screen object or argument to hs.screen.find() representing the screen to place the window on; if omitted the window's current screen will be used
Returns
  • the hs.grid module for method chaining

​setGrid​

Signature
hs.grid.setGrid(grid,screen,frame) -> hs.grid
Type
Function
Description
Sets the grid size for a given screen or screen resolution
Parameters
  • grid - an hs.geometry size, or argument to construct one, indicating the number of columns and rows for the grid
  • screen - an hs.screen object, or a valid argument to hs.screen.find(), indicating the screen(s) to apply the grid to; if omitted or nil, sets the default grid, which is used when no specific grid is found for any given screen/resolution
  • frame - an hs.geometry rect object indicating the frame that the grid will occupy for the given screen; if omitted or nil, the screen's :frame() will be used; use this argument if you want e.g. to leave a strip of the desktop unoccluded when using GeekTool or similar. The screen argument must be non-nil when setting a custom grid frame.
Returns
  • the hs.grid module for method chaining
Signature
hs.grid.setMargins(margins) -> hs.grid
Type
Function
Description
Sets the margins between windows
Parameters
  • margins - an hs.geometry point or size, or argument to construct one, indicating the desired margins between windows in screen points
Returns
  • the hs.grid module for method chaining

​show​

Signature
hs.grid.show([exitedCallback][, multipleWindows])
Type
Function
Description
Shows the grid and starts the modal interactive resizing process for the focused or frontmost window.
Parameters
  • exitedCallback - (optional) a function that will be called after the user dismisses the modal interface
  • multipleWindows - (optional) if true, the resizing grid won't automatically go away after selecting the desired cells for the frontmost window; instead, it'll switch to the next window
Returns
  • None
Notes
  • In the modal interface, press the arrow keys to jump to adjacent screens; spacebar to maximize/unmaximize; esc to quit without any effect
  • Pressing tab or shift-tab in the modal interface will cycle to the next or previous window; if multipleWindows is false or omitted, the first press will just enable the multiple windows behaviour
  • The keyboard hints assume a QWERTY layout; if you use a different layout, change hs.grid.HINTS accordingly
  • If grid dimensions are greater than 10x10 then you may have to change hs.grid.HINTS depending on your requirements. See note in HINTS.

​snap​

Signature
hs.grid.snap(win) -> hs.grid
Type
Function
Description
Snaps a window into alignment with the nearest grid lines
Parameters
  • win - an hs.window object to snap
Returns
  • the hs.grid module for method chaining
Signature
hs.grid.toggleShow([exitedCallback][, multipleWindows])
Type
Function
Description
Toggles the grid and modal resizing mode - see hs.grid.show() and hs.grid.hide()
Parameters
  • exitedCallback - (optional) a function that will be called after the user dismisses the modal interface
  • multipleWindows - (optional) if true, the resizing grid won't automatically go away after selecting the desired cells for the frontmost window; instead, it'll switch to the next window
Returns
  • None
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