GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 401670
Auto arrange
Last modified: 2015-06-15 22:41:51 UTC
This is something which windows and (I think) KDE have. On a gnome desktop, icons and launchers etc can easily become cluttered, stacked on top of each other etc. This mainly happens when a file is dragged onto the desktop and it ends up where it was dropped, or a device is automtically mounted and it's launcher appears or when you delete an item, and its position is left empty. I would like to see a feature which keeps icons arranged to a grid, but rather htan just leaving them anywhere on the grid, as near to the top left corner as possible. --- Thanks Alec Wright
Created attachment 81369 [details] GNOME Desktop A GNOME Desktop can easily end up loooking like this.
I agree with the reporter, this is what I would call expected behavior for a desktop. KDE, OS X, KDE and Windows sort or at least prevent overlapping unless the desktop grid is completely full. My suggestion is not to force sorting by name, type or extension (of course those should be an option), but rather snapping to a grid and prevent overlapping unless absolutely necessary.
It's not only overlapping that I'm bothered about. It's also blank slots. If you, for example, delete a file, the other files should move in to fill that space.
Created attachment 85976 [details] [review] sort the icon container before a successful add/remove icon op
Nick, is that a patch for auto arrange? If so, thanks, but I haven't a clue how to use a patch :s Can I apply it to a binary distribution which I got from the Ubuntu repositories or do I have to get some source code? Is it likely to ever be included in mainstream gnome?
(In reply to comment #5) > Nick, is that a patch for auto arrange? If so, thanks, but I haven't a clue how > to use a patch :s Yep. I probably should have commented that post, my apologies. To use, from a nautilus source tree: patch -p0 < nautilus-icon-container.c.patch > Can I apply it to a binary distribution which I got from the Ubuntu > repositories or do I have to get some source code? > Is it likely to ever be included in mainstream gnome? > Not to a binary distribution, no. You'd have to be the maintainer of the nautilus package in Ubuntu to get it included, unless of course it was in nautilus upstream, which we're in the right spot for. The patch ensures the nautilus icon container is sorted when icons are removed/added.
If we were to add this feature, it'd need a preference to turn it on and off (GConf, right-click menu addition, preference capplet, the whole schpeal). Setting patch status.
Dear all, please see Bug 613111
I'm pretty sure I saw an option in the right click menu to align icons last time I used the desktop in the GNOME 2.32 time. Anyway the desktop isn't really promoted as a first class feature nowadays. Feel free to reopen with an updated patch if the issue is still present.