RE: New keybinding suggestion: C-x _ for `shrink-window'

[Drew Adams]

> If we resize the window along two directions (horizontal vs. vertical)
> then <up>/<down> or +/- (or whatever) is okay, because we just need a
> way to increment/decrement the window size.
>
> If we resize the window along *four* directions (corresponding to the
> four window borders)

That's 8 possibilities, BTW, since each border can move two directions.

> then arrow keys should better keep their natural
> meaning.  In this case, <up> should enlarge the window vertically by
> pushing up its upper border, etc.

Why necessarily pushing up its upper border?
`enlarge-window'/`shrink-window' don't behave like that. Why not be
consistent with what they do?

I'm not really arguing for one or the other. My point is that it is not
obvious which border movement is better, if the user justs asks to enlarge
the window.

> IMHO the primary question is not what bindings `window-resize' should
> use, but whether it should be bi-directional or four-directional.
>
> I think it should be four-directional, because it'd handle both
> bi-directional cases and more complex stuff.  After all, we want
> `window-resize' to do more than replacing C-x } C-x z z z z z ...

Assuming the window to resize is already chosen:

1. There is the choice of whether to increase or decrease the size, and the
choice of whether to do that horizontally or vertically - 4 possibilities.
FWIW, the Do Re Mi version uses the 4 arrows for those possibilities.

2. Alternatively, there can be a choice of which border to move and then
which way to move it (to increase the window size or decrease it). In this
case, there are 8 possibilities, not 4.

#1 doesn't specify which border gets moved. In the Do Re Mi version, that is
decided by `shrink-window'.

You could also opt for moving both borders in a given dimension (horizontal
or vertical), widening/narrowing or heightening/shortening equally in both
directions (left-right or up-down). Size change would then be in even
amounts, or else one border would be slightly privileged for odd amounts.

Or you could opt for something else. What is it that you want? What is this
thread really about?