Undesirable scrolling layout window split behavior when using mouse

[definitelynotrazu]

I'm unsure whether this should be a bug or feature request, but I'm leaning towards bug.
Currently while using the scrolling layout, if you try to drag and drop a window with your cursor, to move it, it will always split up or down of an existing window. However in scrolling such as in niri, you would almost always want the window to be dragged to the left or right side of an existing window, as opposed to above or below.

Ideally we would get an option akin to precise_mouse_move and or force_split for the scrolling layout.
This capability is essential for a scrolling layout imo.

Thanks for your work.

[AlejandroMinor]

You're absolutely right. The current drag-and-drop behavior still follows the standard tiling logic, which feels broken in a horizontal scrolling context.

This should definitely be a Feature Request. The scrolling plugin needs its own mouse dispatcher logic to prioritize side-by-side drops and ignore vertical splits. Adding a toggle similar to dwindle:force_split specifically for the scrolling strip would solve this and bring the UX closer to Niri.

[definitelynotrazu]

Checked through the new docs and as far as I can tell this post remains true for the Lua 0.55 update.
Maybe there's a way to set this up with Lua? I'm not sure.

[williamtorres64]

Is there anything we can do to mitigate the issue in the meantime?
I really liked the scrolling layout, but this is borderline a dealbreaker for me.

[vaxerski]

I can add this no problem, only question is what would this look like?

Do we:

• always make a new column
• configure either one or another
• make it make a new column when dropped around an edge, split otherwise

?

[erstarr]

+1 for make it make a new column when dropped around an edge, split otherwise.

Option 1 isn't viable imo: personal pref. Someone might like, others might hate
Option 2 as a config option isn't good for ppl who want to do both without a convoluted lua script

[williamtorres64]

Third option is the best, but allowing the user to choose between them would be even better if that’s not too hard to implement.

[definitelynotrazu]

I'd say first or third option. Third is what Niri has so scrolling users might be expecting it to work like that.

[vaxerski]

see #15251

fixes the issue