Is it technically possible to develop an application which behaves like Exposé & Spaces on Snow Leopard?

Question

Is it technically possible to develop an application which behaves like Exposé & Spaces on Snow Leopard? I mean: Are there APIs which would support the development of something like this?

It involves:

• Taking snapshot images of a Space.
• Knowing which windows are open on a particular Space.
• Knowing the frame (origin and bounds) for every window on every Space.
• Programmatically rearrange windows.

Are these things supported by the APIs in Mac OS X?

Answer 1

No. Exposé and Spaces are both implemented within the Dock, which is given special capabilities not available to other applications. (It alone has the ability to directly manipulate any window.)

Some of the features you're asking about are available via other means, though -- for instance, Accessibility Services will let you enumerate and manipulate UI elements on screen, including windows.