Automatic Capture

Capturing the window state of your desktop

The capture function allows you to quickly generate a list of window definitions for your layout by looking at all the windows on your desktop based on the detection options you've set (which are either the application default ones or the overrides specified for the layout). The purpose of capturing is to save a little time while creating the window definitions and the common tasks after capturing are:

The simplest form

In the simplest form, capture allows you to grab the state of the windows on your desktop and apply that back to the windows when you apply the layout. If a window was minimized when the capture function was used to create the window definitions then applying the layout will cause that very same window to become minimized if it isn't already.

What is captured

The capture function will automatically fill in details for the window definitions based on the configuration settings of the Windows Layout Manager. Check out the Automatic Capture Excluded Process Names and Automatic Capture Options in the configuration settings.

Automatic capture will add the window title, window process name, process file, and window class name and the screen index (monitor) that it found a window on. The screen index is disabled and is added for informational purposes and to provide you with the correct index in case you wish to edit the properties. It is recommended to use the window title and process name combinations in order to properly detect and match the window when applying a layout.

The state of the window is also taken into account. The XY and Width/Height and screen index are filled in automatically but are disabled if the window is minimized or maximized. If the window for which a definition was generated happens to be minimized (and the detection options includes minimized windows) then the minimize action will be selected. The same goes for maximize. If a window is neither minimized or maximized the position and size actions are enabled.

Re-capturing

If you are editing a layout definition that already has window definitions and perform a capture the Windows Layout Manager will ask you whether you wish to append the windows that are captured or overwrite the entire contents of the layout.