Give the option to fix centered layout width.

[jonnyso]

Previously the centered layout in zen mode had a fixed width, meaning that if you resize the window the centered section will remain the same as long as it still fits in the resized window. The behaviour now is for the centered section width to be proportional to the size of the window. See below:

On resize, old behaviour/new behaviour:

[vscodebot]

(Experimental duplicate detection)
Thanks for submitting this issue. Please also check if it is already covered by an existing one, like:

• Document is not centered in Centered layout and Zen mode after resizing (#51591)
• Bring back old Centered Layout behavior (#53989)
• Test: centered editor layout (#52287)
• Feature request: do not apply centered layout to webviews (#50885)

[isidorn]

This is a fair feature request. I know @joaomoreno wanted something like this.

[FancyBanana]

I agree, having the editor window resized every time you toggle sidebar is quite annoying for me. It would also be nice to bring back switching back to full-size layout when having more than 1 editor open side by side.

[FancyBanana]

@isidorn I think this issue is closely related to #53989

[vscodebot]

This iteration we focus on issue grooming. This issue is being closed to keep the number of issues in our inbox on a manageable level, we are closing issues that are not going to be addressed in the foreseeable future: We look at the number of votes the issue has received and the number of duplicate issues filed. More details here. If you disagree and feel that this issue is crucial: We are happy to listen and to reconsider.

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Thanks for your understanding and happy coding!

[zhiayang]

So does this mean that you're not going to address this issue any time in the near future? "Issue grooming" seems to simply be a euphemism for getting rid of issues that nobody wants to fix.

[Gameghostify]

Can this be reopened? I feel this would be a great change

[isidorn]

Yes I can reopen.

[Gameghostify]

@isidorn Thanks a lot!

[yannxaver]

Any plans on implementing this?

[akbyrd]

I love the centered layout feature and I really want to be able to use it. Unfortunately it's unusable as is and I've avoided it for the last couple of years waiting for it to be addressed.

First and foremost, the size must be absolute, not relative. The current behavior is honestly just broken. I can't think of a sane reason why it would be relative. Look at the results:

Sane:

Not sane:

This is also being asked for here: #71361 (comment)

Second, we need settings for whether to use centered layout and to set the default size. I put in a request for this years ago and it was inexplicably renamed to a completely different request and closed as a duplicate.

P.S. I'm now noticing it's even not centered properly? That's weird...

[isidorn]

This is a fair feature request and we are open for a lean and good PR that fixes this
Code pointer

vscode/src/vs/base/browser/ui/centered/centeredViewLayout.ts

Line 65 in b7a9bfa

this.container.appendChild(this.view.element);

[edgarfroes]

Any plans on implementing this?

[zhiayang]

Looks like somebody already implemented a PR for it (#104942), but the vscode people decided to close it for petty reasons.

[fareloz]

I miss this feature for almost a year. Any news on when it will be implemented?

[victorvianna]

Rather than have it be fixed size, I'd rather have the editor adjust to the rulers you define for each file extension. I work in a project where .cc files can have 80 chars, .java can have 100 and my debug logs are unbounded. So whenever I switch I have to adjust the width manually.

[arsdever]

Does anyone know any workaround until someone finds time to implement it in vscode natively? Any extension that solves this problem?

[ma-sadeghi]

Any updates?

[fareloz]

I wrote my comment here back in 2018... now is 2022 and this annoying issue is still here, sadly. Ok, the dev team doesn't want to add such a change to the main code base. But at least give an API to create an extension for those who needs this.

[ma-sadeghi]

My main issue is the terminal pane. I used to put the terminal pane side by side the editor, and pop it on and off when I needed it. The problem was that in the occasions where I needed both, the editor width was shrunk down to an unusable width due to the centering issue. So, everytime I had to manually switch back and forth between normal and center modes.

Until yesterday, which I gave up and put the terminal at the bottom, so I no longer need to frequently switch to normal mode. It's a pain though, since I lose half the screen height when I need both the editor and the terminal 😟

Please make this an option. There's already an option that automatically turns off the center mode when you open another "window", but it doesn't apply to the terminal pane.

[thernstig]

@FancyBanana I am going to go out in a limb here and ask if #60900 can be fixed as I find it even more relevant than a fixed width, but subjective of course.