Four saved slots work best when their jobs are fixed but their contents are chosen deliberately. Name the jobs Drafting, Reference, Revision comparison, and Reading. Then list more candidate arrangements than the Mac text editor can retain, award one candidate to each job, and place the rest on a waiting list. When the project phase changes, retire an arrangement rather than casually erasing one of the four jobs.
This guide shows how to allocate mac text editor layouts under a four-slot cap. It uses a controlled specimen that saved the four required names, but the operating method is a selection decision: which candidate deserves each named slot now, and which candidate should replace it later. It does not rehearse switching through all four modes or test close-and-reopen recovery.
Fix four jobs, then compare six setups
Begin with the approved jobs: Drafting, Reference, Revision comparison, and Reading. Those labels keep the four promises stable. The possible arrangements underneath them can still compete.
Consider six candidates during structural revision:
| Candidate | Job | Arrangement | Expected uses this week | Rebuild cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Drafting | manuscript alone in a wide view | 5 | low |
| B | Drafting | manuscript beside the session brief | 5 | high |
| C | Reference | manuscript beside the character sheet | 4 | high |
| D | Reference | manuscript beside research notes | 1 | high |
| E | Revision comparison | current manuscript beside the previous draft | 3 | high |
| F | Reading | manuscript beside its preview | 2 | high |
There are four jobs but six candidates because Drafting has A and B, while Reference has C and D. That competition matters. Starting with exactly four arrangements would hide the rejected options and make the first idea for each job look permanent.
Award one slot to each job
Score every candidate on three questions. Will it be used repeatedly in the current phase? Which files, pane details, or linkage settings could be lost during manual reconstruction? Does it make the one editable manuscript easier to identify?
In this example, B wins Drafting because its session brief takes effort to reconstruct. C wins Reference because character consistency is active now. E is the only Revision comparison candidate, and F is the only Reading candidate. The saved allocation is therefore B/C/E/F. A waits because a manuscript-only view is quick to rebuild. D waits because fact checking has not begun.
This decision still saves four named layouts for the four promised jobs. It does not pretend that every attractive setup deserves a fifth name. Each admitted row should also identify its exact editable manuscript, its read-only references, and the condition that will make the arrangement surrender its slot.
Retire an arrangement without deleting its job
A project phase can change which arrangement best serves a stable job. Suppose character decisions are complete and unresolved research questions begin to accumulate. The Reference job still belongs in the four-slot set, but candidate C no longer deserves to represent it. Retire C and admit D. The allocation changes from B/C/E/F to B/D/E/F.
Keep four lines with that decision:
- retired candidate: C, manuscript plus character sheet
- reason: character review is complete and the setup has not been used for seven days
- admitted candidate: D, manuscript plus research notes
- next review point: when the unresolved research list reaches zero
This is different from practicing a tour through Drafting, Reference, Revision comparison, and Reading. No mode-switch sequence is required. The question is narrower: which arrangement earns the Reference slot at this stage, and what evidence will later remove it?
Keep the manuscript outside the slot decision
Retiring a candidate must not delete, rename, or replace the authoritative manuscript. Before changing the arrangement, save the manuscript and record its path and SHA-256. List the reference-only files that the retiring candidate opens. Change the layout configuration only; do not create a fresh manuscript merely because a slot changes hands.
Use this order:
- Save the authoritative manuscript and record its exact path and hash.
- Record every old draft or reference opened by the retiring candidate.
- Write the retirement reason and the admission reason.
- Change only the arrangement assigned to the named job.
- Identify the editable manuscript and each read-only reference before typing.
If an old draft was edited, stop adjusting the layout. Identify the changed file and transfer only the intended revision to the authoritative manuscript. Layout names organize context; they do not provide manuscript history or read-only enforcement.
What the saved controlled test proved
A saved controlled test keeps the exact manuscript and character-sheet inputs, their creation method, and the resulting records. The run added four named layouts: Drafting, Reference, Revision comparison, and Reading. It configured a two-pane pattern, linked scrolling, and 18 pt/14 pt font values; opened the manuscript and character-sheet files; created a preview from the manuscript tab; reordered the tabs; and inspected the tab list, layout list, workspace, and both text files.
All 21 recorded commands exited with code 0. Inspection returned four layout names, two text tabs, and one preview tab. The copied inputs remained unchanged after execution.
The test does not prove the C-to-D replacement, a sequential tour through all four jobs, application restart recovery, or actual synchronized scroll positions. Those boundaries matter: the four names and one configured tab/preview specimen are executed results; the candidate-retirement method is a general allocation procedure.
When this allocation discipline pays off
This method is useful when one job has several plausible setups and their value changes during a book project. It lets Reference move from a character sheet to research notes without discarding Drafting, Revision comparison, or Reading.
Do not fill four slots merely because the editor permits four. If the manuscript-only view takes seconds to reconstruct, keeping it on the waiting list may be the better decision. If the real goal is to preserve earlier prose, use file copies or version control rather than a layout slot.
Conclusion: four named slots, two candidates waiting
Under a four-layout cap, keep the jobs Drafting, Reference, Revision comparison, and Reading. Generate at least five candidate arrangements, then admit one per job using current frequency, reconstruction cost, and source safety. The example begins with B/C/E/F. When character review closes and research work begins, it retires C and moves to B/D/E/F without changing the four job names or the authoritative manuscript.
Your next step is to give every candidate four fields: Job, Save or Wait, Editable Source, and Retirement Condition. If you are evaluating Rune Studio, compare that allocation sheet with the current Mac version’s documented four-layout feature and reproduce the controlled test before relying on the saved set. Explore Rune Studio’s layout features
