Widgets

Every individual Component is contained in its own widget. These can be added, removed, moved and resized. Each widget has its own header which can be right clicked to reveal more operations you can do with that widget.

How to Add a Widget

Adding a widget can be done using the widget bar on the right hand side of the window. This will add a widget of the selected type to the current tab.

How to Close a Widget

Widgets can be closed by clicking the ✕ button on the right side of the header. Alternatively, the currently focused widget can be closed by pressing Cmd + w.

How to Navigate Widgets

At most, it is possible to have one widget be focused. Depending on the type of widget, this allows you to directly interact with the content in that widget. A focused widget is always outlined with a distinct border. A widget may be focused by clicking on it. Alternatively, you can change the focused widget by pressing Ctrl + Shift + ↑, Ctrl + Shift + ↓, Ctrl + Shift + ←, or Ctrl + Shift + →to navigate relative to the currently selected widget.

How to Magnify Widgets

Magnifying a widget will pop the widget out in front of everything else. You can magnify using the header icon, or with Cmd + m.

How to Reorganize Widgets

By dragging and dropping their headers, widgets can be moved to different locations in the layout. This effectively allows you to reorganize your screen however you see fit. When dragging, you will see a preview of the widget that is being dragged. When the widget is over a valid drop point, the area where it would be moved to will turn green. Releasing the click will place the widget there and reflow the other widgets around it. If you see a green box cover half of two different widgets, the drop will place the widget between the two. If you see the green box cover half of one widget at the edge of the screen, the widget will be placed between that widget and the edge of the screen. If you see the green box cover one widget entirely, the two widgets will swap locations.

How to Resize Widgets

Hovering the mouse between two widgets changes your cursor to ↔ and reveals a green line dividing the widgets. By dragging and dropping this green line, you are able to resize the widgets adjacent to it.

Types of Widgets

Term

The usual terminal you know and love. We add a few plugins via the wsh command that you can read more about further below.

Preview

Preview is the generic type of widget used for viewing files. This can take many different forms based on the type of file being viewed. You can use `wsh view [path]` from any Wave terminal window to open a preview widget with the contents of the specified path (e.g. wsh view . or wsh view ~/myimage.jpg).

Directory

When looking at a directory, preview will show a file viewer much like MacOS' Finder application or Windows' File Explorer application. This variant is slightly more geared toward software development with the focus on seeing what is shown by the ls -alh command.

View a New File

The simplest way to view a new file is to double click its row in the file viewer. Alternatively, while the widget is focused, you can use the ↑ and ↓ arrow keys to select a row and press enter to preview the associated file.

View the Parent Directory

In the directory view, this is as simple as opening the .. file as if it were a regular file. This can be done with the method above. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Cmd + ↑.

Navigate Back and Forward

When looking at a file, you can navigate back by clicking the back button in the widget header or the keyboard shortcut Cmd + ←. You can always navigate back and forward using Cmd + ← and Cmd + →.

Filter the List of Files

While the widget is focused, you can filter by filename by typing a substring of the filename you're working for. To clear the filter, you can click the ✕ on the filter dropdown or press esc.

Sort by a File Column

To sort a file by a specific column, click on the header for that column. If you click the header again, it will reverse the sort order.

Hide and Show Hidden Files

At the right of the widget header, there is an 👁️ button. Clicking this button hides and shows hidden files.

Refresh the Directory

At the right of the widget header, there is a refresh button. Clicking this button refreshes the directory contents.

Navigate to Common Directories

At the left of the widget header, there is a file icon. Clicking and holding on this icon opens a menu where you can select a common folder to navigate to. The available options are Home, Desktop, Downloads, and Root.

Open a New Terminal in the Current Directory

If you right click the header of the widget (alternatively, click the gear icon), one of the menu items listed is Open Terminal in New Widget. This will create a new terminal widget at your current directory.

Open a New Terminal in a Child Directory

If you want to open a terminal for a child directory instead, you can right click on that file's row to get the Open Terminal in New Widget option. Clicking this will open a terminal at that directory. Note that this option is only available for children that are directories.

Open a New Preview for a Child

To open a new Preview Widget for a Child, you can right click on that file's row and select the Open Preview in New Widget option.

Quick Look (MacOS only)

On a MacOS host, it is possible to use the Quick Look feature from the directory preview. To do this, select the file you wish to view and press Space. This will open a preview of your file in a separate window. This preview can then be closed by pressing Space again. This currently supports the filetypes that can be accessed by the qlmanage command.

Markdown

Opening a markdown file will bring up a view of the rendered markdown. These files cannot be edited in the preview at this time.

Images/Media

Opening a picture will bring up the image of that picture. Opening a video will bring up a player that lets you watch the video.

Codeedit

Opening most text files will open Codeedit to either view or edit the file. It is technically part of the Preview widget, but it is important enough to be singled out. After opening a codeedit widget, it is often useful to magnify it (Cmd + m) to get a larger view. You can then use the hotkeys below to switch to edit mode, make your edits, save, and then use Cmd + w to close the widget (all without using the mouse!).

Switch to Edit Mode

To switch to edit mode, click the edit button to the right of the header. This lets you edit the file contents with a regular monaco editor. You can also switch to edit mode by pressing Cmd + e.

Save an Edit

Once an edit has been made in edit mode, click the save button to the right of the header to save the contents. You can also save by pressing Cmd + s.

Exit Edit Mode Without Saving

To exit edit mode without saving, click the cancel button to the right of the header. You can also exit without saving by pressing Cmd + r.