Save/Restore Position and Size of Last Closed Frame

Question

Say there're 3 frames Fa Fb Fc.

Then I closed Fa Fc, Emacs needs to remember nothing;
instead, Fb is the one that needs to be saved its parameters, because it's the only frame on the desktop.
Then I close Fb; now Fb is the last closed frame and there's no frame on the desktop.

Next time I create a new frame Fd, it will use the size and position parameters of Fb.

When there're already other frame(s) on the desktop, the newly created frame uses default parameters instead.

---

Any way to implement that?

Answer 1

I've been using the following code from this reddit post. worksforme

(Note, I've changed the file location from the original.)

;; https://www.reddit.com/r/emacs/comments/4ermj9/comment/d237n0i/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
;; Custom functions/hooks for persisting/loading frame geometry upon save/load

(defun save-frameg ()
  "Gets the current frame's geometry and saves to ~/.emacs.frameg."
  (let ((frameg-font (frame-parameter (selected-frame) 'font))
    (frameg-left (frame-parameter (selected-frame) 'left))
    (frameg-top (frame-parameter (selected-frame) 'top))
    (frameg-width (frame-parameter (selected-frame) 'width))
    (frameg-height (frame-parameter (selected-frame) 'height))
    (frameg-file (expand-file-name ".emacs.frameg" user-emacs-directory)))
    (with-temp-buffer
      ;; Turn off backup for this file
      (make-local-variable 'make-backup-files)
      (setq make-backup-files nil)
      (insert
       ";;; This file stores the previous emacs frame's geometry.\n"
       ";;; Last generated " (current-time-string) ".\n"
       "(setq initial-frame-alist\n"
       ;; " '((font . \"" frameg-font "\")\n"
       " '("
       (format " (top . %d)\n" (max frameg-top 0))
       (format " (left . %d)\n" (max frameg-left 0))
       (format " (width . %d)\n" (max frameg-width 0))
       (format " (height . %d)))\n" (max frameg-height 0)))
      (when (file-writable-p frameg-file)
    (write-file frameg-file)))))

(defun load-frameg ()
  "Loads ~/.emacs.frameg which should load the previous frame's geometry."
  (let ((frameg-file (expand-file-name ".emacs.frameg" user-emacs-directory)))
    (when (file-readable-p frameg-file)
      (load-file frameg-file))))

;; Special work to do ONLY when there is a window system being used
(if window-system
    (progn
      (add-hook 'after-init-hook 'load-frameg)
      (add-hook 'kill-emacs-hook 'save-frameg)))

Answer 2

I have found out how Portacle implements this feature.

I edited its source code, and added them to my .emacs:

(when (display-graphic-p)

  ;; This is the `some-specific-file` mentioned in my question.
  ;; You just need to customize it.
  (defconst shynur/frame-save-position-size-file
    "~/.emacs.d/.shynur-frame-save-position-size-file.el")

  (add-hook 'emacs-startup-hook
            #'(lambda ()
                (when (file-exists-p shynur/frame-save-position-size-file)
                  (load-file shynur/frame-save-position-size-file))))
  (add-hook 'kill-emacs-hook
            #'(lambda ()
                (let* ((props
                        '(left top width height))
                       (values
                        (mapcar #'(lambda (parameter)
                                    (let ((value
                                           (frame-parameter (selected-frame) parameter)))
                                      (if (number-or-marker-p value)
                                          (max value 0)
                                        0))) props)))
                  (with-temp-buffer
                    (cl-loop for prop in props
                             for val in values
                             do (insert
                                 (format "(add-to-list 'initial-frame-alist '(%s . %d))\n"
                                         prop val))))
                  (write-file shynur/frame-save-position-size-file)))))

Answer 3

I wrote a new piece of code for when running Emacs as daemon-clients. It's really nice; hope you'll like it!

;; -*- lexical-binding: t; -*-
(let ((size&position-saver `(,(cons 'top 0) ,(cons 'left 0)  ,(cons 'width 0) ,(cons 'height 0))))
  (put 'size&position-saver :saving? nil)
  (letrec ((get-size&position (lambda ()
                                (when (get 'size&position-saver :saving?)
                                  (dolist (parameter-value size&position-saver)
                                    (set-frame-parameter nil (car parameter-value) (cdr parameter-value))))
                                (remove-hook 'server-after-make-frame-hook get-size&position)
                                (   add-hook 'delete-frame-functions       put-size&position)))
           (put-size&position (lambda (frame-to-be-deleted)
                                (when (length= (frames-on-display-list) 1)
                                  (dolist (parameter-value size&position-saver)
                                    (setcdr parameter-value (frame-parameter frame-to-be-deleted (car parameter-value))))
                                  (put 'size&position-saver :saving? t)
                                  (remove-hook 'delete-frame-functions       put-size&position)
                                  (   add-hook 'server-after-make-frame-hook get-size&position)))))
    (add-hook 'server-after-make-frame-hook get-size&position)))