Framework documentation
FocalContextual vs. Tiling
FocalContextual is a window-management method, not conventional window tiling.
Conventional tiling emphasizes how windows fit together on the screen. FocalContextual emphasizes the relationship between primary work and supporting information. You choose what occupies a Focal Panel, with supporting windows available in the surrounding Contextual Region. Window placement and sizing support that relationship.
What changes in the model?
Tiling systems vary and can have sophisticated focus behavior. This comparison describes conventional window tiling as a category, not a claim that every tiler has identical features.
Fundamental object
- Conventional window tiling
- Windows allocated to tiles or other positions.
- FocalContextual
- User-defined Focal Panels plus the surrounding Contextual Region.
Primary purpose
- Conventional window tiling
- Allocate display space among windows.
- FocalContextual
- Organize focal and contextual roles within a Workspace.
Screen model
- Conventional window tiling
- A layout of windows or slots; no particular focal/contextual division is required.
- FocalContextual
- A Focal Region defined by panel boundaries within a surrounding Contextual Region.
Focal container
- Conventional window tiling
- A persistent Focal Panel is not intrinsic to tiling.
- FocalContextual
- Each Focal Panel is an explicit placement target that may exist while empty.
Supporting space
- Conventional window tiling
- Supporting windows typically occupy user-defined or system-suggested slots. Placing a window in a slot resizes it to the slot's bounds, which may not fit its content and can require another resize.
- FocalContextual
- The surrounding Contextual Region is free-form: windows and thumbnail shortcuts to them can be sized and positioned freely. When a window is brought into a Focal Panel and later pulled out, it returns to its last known position and size in the Contextual Region.
Role transition
- Conventional window tiling
- Windows may be moved, resized, or focused; behavior depends on the window manager.
- FocalContextual
- A user can move a window between the Contextual Region and a Focal Panel, changing its spatial role.
Multiple primary areas
- Conventional window tiling
- Multiple tiles can be arranged in many ways.
- FocalContextual
- One or more Focal Panels form the Focal Region. In the current Technical Reference, multiple panels form a horizontal row.
Empty area
- Conventional window tiling
- An unused tile or slot may exist, depending on the window manager.
- FocalContextual
- An unoccupied Focal Panel still defines part of the Focal Region.
Similar appearance
- Conventional window tiling
- A particular arrangement can look like a FocalContextual screenshot.
- FocalContextual
- The same window positions do not establish the panel, region, windowing methods, or focal-contextual relationship between the resources.
| Dimension | Conventional window tiling | FocalContextual |
|---|---|---|
| Fundamental object | Windows allocated to tiles or other positions. | User-defined Focal Panels plus the surrounding Contextual Region. |
| Primary purpose | Allocate display space among windows. | Organize focal and contextual roles within a Workspace. |
| Screen model | A layout of windows or slots; no particular focal/contextual division is required. | A Focal Region defined by panel boundaries within a surrounding Contextual Region. |
| Focal container | A persistent Focal Panel is not intrinsic to tiling. | Each Focal Panel is an explicit placement target that may exist while empty. |
| Supporting space | Supporting windows typically occupy user-defined or system-suggested slots. Placing a window in a slot resizes it to the slot's bounds, which may not fit its content and can require another resize. | The surrounding Contextual Region is free-form: windows and thumbnail shortcuts to them can be sized and positioned freely. When a window is brought into a Focal Panel and later pulled out, it returns to its last known position and size in the Contextual Region. |
| Role transition | Windows may be moved, resized, or focused; behavior depends on the window manager. | A user can move a window between the Contextual Region and a Focal Panel, changing its spatial role. |
| Multiple primary areas | Multiple tiles can be arranged in many ways. | One or more Focal Panels form the Focal Region. In the current Technical Reference, multiple panels form a horizontal row. |
| Empty area | An unused tile or slot may exist, depending on the window manager. | An unoccupied Focal Panel still defines part of the Focal Region. |
| Similar appearance | A particular arrangement can look like a FocalContextual screenshot. | The same window positions do not establish the panel, region, windowing methods, or focal-contextual relationship between the resources. |
Same pixels, different model
The two scenes put the same windows in approximately the same places. In the second scene, the Document sits in an explicit Focal Panel; the other windows occupy the Contextual Region. Geometry alone cannot tell you which model manages the windows.
Ordinary window arrangement
FocalContextual
Same Workspace, changing focus
Suppose you’re preparing a presentation using PowerPoint, Excel, and browser research. PowerPoint occupies a Focal Panel while the spreadsheet and research remain available around it. When you need to analyze the numbers, you move Excel into the panel and return PowerPoint to the surrounding context. Your primary work changes; the broader workspace stays intact.
Select each state. PowerPoint, Excel, and the browser take turns occupying Focal Panel P. The other windows remain available in the surrounding Contextual Region. Changing focus here means changing a window's spatial role, not merely making it bigger or giving it OS keyboard focus.
The transition in words
- State A: PowerPoint is focal; Excel, browser, PDF, and project plan are contextual.
- State B: Excel moves into Focal Panel P; PowerPoint returns to context. Browser, PDF, and project plan remain contextual.
- State C: Browser becomes focal; PowerPoint, Excel, PDF, and project plan are contextual.
Window W: Contextual Region → Focal Panel P. Focal Panel P: Window A → Window B. The Workspace and panel boundary persist; the windows' roles and placements change by user action.
Can I reproduce this with ordinary windows?
You can reproduce the appearance. You cannot thereby reproduce the FocalContextual interaction model.
Resizing and positioning windows using traditional window snapping on Windows or macOS can produce a similar screenshot. Those actions alone do not define an explicit Focal Panel, a Contextual Region, persistent focal and contextual roles, or transitions between those roles within the Workspace. A conventional window manager may offer some similar behaviors; the distinction here is the specific panel and region relationship described in the Technical Reference.
What FocalContextual is not
FocalContextual is not:
- conventional window tiling
- a virtual desktop or a second monitor
- a manually positioned collection of ordinary windows
- a grid of equally ranked windows
- an AI window manager or an LLM context-management mechanism
- merely a maximized window surrounded by other windows
- merely a visual design pattern
“Focal” names a user-established spatial role, not OS keyboard or input focus. “Context” names surrounding desktop space, not an AI model's prompt context or memory. A virtual desktop supplies another window surface; FocalContextual distinguishes roles within a Workspace.