Powertoys: [FZ Editor] show coordinates/dimensions & allow manual coordinates (absolute and relative)

[PaulCoddington]

Summary of the new feature/enhancement

Sizing of custom zones in editor by dragging mouse is a little bit coarse (hit and miss) in terms of getting close to edges of screen symmetrically and allowing window edges of multiple zones to line up neatly. Some possible solutions are suggested for consideration.

Proposed technical implementation details (optional)

1. Perhaps have an option for the editor to snap to a grid of user specified n pixels.

2. Perhaps have optional ability to input window dimension and position directly in both absolute terms (n x n pixels) and in terms of percentage of screen width and height.

[mikeroygray]

Agreed. Note: Obviously, the numbers in question ARE actually stored somewhere already - either in a settings file or in the registry. So, maybe we can edit them directly. I spent a while looking but couldn't figure out where - can anyone help out here?

[TheMrJukes]

When you apply a layout from the editor to the engine, the editor calls PersistZoneSet. It passes a bunch of data back including an array of ints which represent the zones. PersistZoneSet creates a new ZoneSet from the data and then calls ZoneSet::Save. That basically writes a ZoneSetPersistedData binary blob to the registry at HKCU\Software\SuperFancyZones\MonitorWidth_MonitorHeight. MonitorWidth_MonitorHeight being the resolution of the monitor you are configuring.
An issue #368 has been opened to look at storing the data in a more friendly json format which I 100% agree with and could more easily allow sharing of cool layouts.

[mikeroygray]

Huh! Well, I found the entry in question - but my Hex-fu being what is(n't), I think I'll wait for that json!

[JWohlgem]

This would be really nice. Perhaps consider displaying the width x height, and potentially x,y coordinates of one of it's corners when editing customs zones would go a long way to improving this. Editing registry data should likely be a last resort.

[enricogior]

Hi @JWohlgem
there is an issue for tracking the "display coordinates/size" of the zones while editing https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/524
Feel free to up-vote/add you comments there.
Thank you.

[christiandull]

It is hard to get the zone to the correct position and correct size with the mouse.

It would be great if we get a edit button left of the close button. There i want to put in the position (x pos, y pos) and the size (width, height) - like in the program WindowManager.

Also it would be great if there is a grab/pick button, where i can choose a existing window to get the coordinates from it.

And also that i can setup a shortcut for this zone (like Ctrl+Alt+F1) to send the active window directly to this zone without mouse

And it would be also great, if i can see and setup there the position nr. of the zone (the dots you see when you drag a window with shift).

[spackmat]

In the meantime for those, who are looking for the config file to edit the custom zone dimensions manually, here it is: %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\PowerToys\FancyZones\zones-settings.json

[nammmers]

Thank you! Is this being actively worked on?

[enricogior]

@nammmers
not at the moment, also we are currently making some changes in the editor UI, so in case you are interested in contributing we need to coordinate.