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Read the project’s introduction
About Slate
Slate is a window management application similar to Divvy and SizeUp (except better and free!). Originally written to replace them due to some limitations in how each work, it attempts to overcome them by simply being extremely configurable. As a result, it may be a bit daunting to get configured, but once it is done, the benefit is huge.
Slate currently works on Mac OS X 10.6 and above
Summary of Features
Highly customizable
Bind keystrokes to:
move and/or resize windows
directionally focus windows
activate preset layouts
create, delete, and activate snapshots of the current state of windows
Set default layouts for different monitor configurations which will activate when that configuration is detected.
Window Hints: an intuitive way to change window focus
[Beta] A better, more customizable, application switcher.
Credits
Big thanks to philc for the Window Hints idea (and initial implementation) as well as plenty of other suggestions and improvement ideas.
Using Slate
Installing Slate
NEW Installation Instructions
Note: You must turn on the Accessibility API by checking System Preferences > Universal Access > Enable access for assistive devices
Direct Download
.dmg
.tar.gz
Terminal
Just run this in your terminal:
cd /Applications && curl http://www.ninjamonkeysoftware.com/slate/versions/slate-latest.tar.gz | tar -xz
Configuring Slate
NEW: You may now use a ".slate.js" file to configure slate using JavaScript. This allows for much more complex and dynamic configurations than the normal slate configuration style below. You can check out the documentation for this here.
Slate is configured using a ".slate" file in the current user's home directory. Configuration is loaded upon running Slate. You can also re-load the config using the "Load Config" menu option on the status menu (use this at your own risk. It is better to simply restart Slate).
Note: If no ".slate" file exists in the current user's home directory, the default config file will be used.
Configuration is split into the following directives:
config (for global configurations)
alias (to create alias variables)
layout (to configure layouts)
default (to default certain screen configurations to layouts)
bind (for key bindings)
source (to load configs from another file)
Note: # is the comment character. Anything after a # will be ignored.
###Expressions###
Some directives allow parameters that can be expressions. The following strings will be replaced with the appropriate values when using expressions:
screenOriginX = target screen's top left x coordinate (should not be used in Window Hints configs)
screenOriginY = target screen's top left y coordinate (should not be used in Window Hints configs)
screenSizeX = target screen's width
screenSizeY = target screen's height
windowTopLeftX = window's current top left x coordinate (should not be used in Window Hints configs)
windowTopLeftY = window's current top left y coordinate (should not be used in Window Hints configs)
windowSizeX = window's width
windowSizeY = window's height
newWindowSizeX = window's new width (after resize, only usable in topLeftX and topLeftY, should not be
used in configs)
newWindowSizeY = window's new height (after resize, only usable in topLeftX and topLeftY, should not be
used in configs)
windowHintsWidth = the value of the windowHintsWidth config (only usable in windowHintsTopLeftX and
windowHintsTopLeftY)
windowHintsHeight = the value of the windowHintsHeight config (only usable in windowHintsTopLeftX and
windowHintsTopLeftY)
In addition to the variables above, expressions can be used with the following functions and operators:
+ e.g. 1+1 = 2
- e.g. 1-1 = 0
* e.g. 2*2 = 4
/ e.g. 4/2 = 2
** e.g. 3**2 = 9
sum e.g. sum({1,2,3}) = 6
count e.g. count({4,5,6}) = 3
min e.g. min({1,3,5}) = 1
max e.g. max({1,3,5}) = 5
average e.g. average({1,2,3,4}) = 2.5
median e.g. median({1,2,3,10,15}) = 3
stddev e.g. stddev({1,2,3,4,5}) = 1.4142135623730951
sqrt e.g. sqrt(9) = 3.0
log e.g. log(100) = 2.0
ln e.g. ln(8) = 2.0794415416798357
exp e.g. exp(2) = 7.3890560989306504 (this is "e**parameter")
floor e.g. floor(1.9) = 1.0
ceiling e.g. ceiling(1.1) = 2.0
abs e.g. abs(-1) = 1
trunc e.g. trunc(1.1123123123) = 1.0
random e.g. random() = 0.20607629744336009 (random float between 0 and 1)
randomn e.g. randomn(10) = 4 (random integer between 0 and parameter-1)
Note: When using expressions spaces are not allowed!
The config Directive
The config directive follows the following format:
config name value
List of allowed configs
Example:
config defaultToCurrentScreen true
Note: the .slate file is read top-down directives that come before config directives may not have the config applied. As such, it is best to put config directives at the top of your .slate file.
The alias Directive
The alias directive follows the following format:
alias name value
When you set an alias, you can refer to it in any directive (sequentially after that alias directive) by referencing like ${name}.
Example:
alias bot-right-2nd-mon move screenOriginX+2*screenSizeX/3;screenOriginY+screenSizeY/2 screenSizeX/3;screenSizeY/2 1
Will allow you to use ${bot-right-2nd-mon} as a reference to move screenOriginX+2*screenSizeX/3;screenOriginY+screenSizeY/2 screenSizeX/3;screenSizeY/2 1 in any directive following the alias (including other alias directives)
The layout Directive
The layout directive follows the following format:
layout name 'app name':OPTIONS operations
Where:
name = the name you want to use to reference the layout
'app name' = single-quoted name of the application to add to the layout **or** BEFORE or AFTER
OPTIONS = a comma separated list of options for this application (cannot be used with BEFORE or AFTER)
operations = a pipe separated list of operations (move, resize, pus
Read the full README on GitHub