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Topic: «Force windows into visible Desktop area , ...or over an always-on top title bar » on forum: Feature Requests   Views: 18818
 
Scott
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 Posts: 141
Joined: 04/11/2005
Posted: 09/13/2006 02:22:26
 
 
 One thing that drives me nuts when I use Remote Desktop is that all my window sizes are set for my normal resolution--which is much higher than the resolution I can use remotely.  As a result of the smaller resolution, I end up constantly moving and resizing windows.  And some windows end up off screen, with no easy way to get them back.

I found a tiny, old, but very handy utility that takes care of this problem: Discover.  But this seems to be a very simple function, and I wish that Actual Window Manager could do this instead.

I imagine it could be implemented into AWM as an optional hotkey, and a tray menu item.  Similar to what Discover has, the menu might include the following functions/options:

Force Windows Into Desktop Area Now
Force Windows Into Desktop Area Automatically

The first menu item would simply try forcing open windows onto the visible Desktop area immediately, and the second item would try doing so automatically, perhaps every second or whatever.  (Obviously, the first item would do nothing if the second were enabled.)

As far as options go, they might consist of:

Shrink Any
Shrink Sizable
Shrink None

The first option would cause AWM to attempt to shrink any window that went outside the Desktop bounds; the second would of course only try doing so for sizable windows, and...  Well, it's pretty clear I think.  :)

If the point of this feature suggestion isn't obvious, please try this:  Close all open windows, then reduce your resolution by several steps.  Now, run a few applications such as Notepad, Word--anything.  See how everything launches (and stays) partially or totally off screen?  It could drive you nuts!  I do this many times a day, every day.

OK, I will be honest:  I originally suggested this in late 2004, and I'm hoping this time I'll have better luck.  :)
 
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Alexey Fadeyev
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Joined: 09/30/2005
Posted: 09/14/2006 05:09:15
 
 
 The last AWM beta has the ability to accomplish your task partially. I talk about the "Placement restrictions" options group which allows you to define the custom borders on your desktop. If you define these borders for the All Windows rule then no window will be able to move out of the region defined by these borders.

Anyway, we'll reconsider the other suggestion regarding this matter and possibly will expand the functionality to the required state. For now, please, check the last beta abilities as I suggested above and see if they help you with the Remote Desktop.
 
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Scott
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 Posts: 141
Joined: 04/11/2005
Posted: 09/14/2006 07:03:07
 
 
 Thank you for the reply.  I tried the "Restrict Placement" feature, but it is hard to work with.  The "All Windows" setting will not affect the (many) windows I have rules for already.  The setting is not easy to toggle on and off (the reason I suggested adding this to the tray menu is to make it easy to turn on/off).  Just now, experimenting with the "Restrict Placement" feature with calc.exe has given me a tiny, cut-off Calculator window that cannot be moved, and I don't understand why.
 
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Alexey Fadeyev
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Posted: 09/18/2006 04:01:11
 
 
Quote
The "All Windows" setting will not affect the (many) windows I have rules for already.

It's the general feature of AWM: the Specific Rule has a precedence of the All Windows rule. It's described here.

Quote
The setting is not easy to toggle on and off

This setting can be quickly disabled on the fly via the window menu. Isn't it easy enough?

Quote
tiny, cut-off Calculator window

*sigh* Sorry but there some bugs were discovered right after the beta was shipped. Don't use the "pixels" measure units while defining the constraints.
 
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Scott
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 Posts: 141
Joined: 04/11/2005
Posted: 09/18/2006 06:15:16
 
 
 No, sorry, it's not easy enough.  The "restrict placement" option:

...Doesn't work for all windows (such as command prompt windows, which I use a great deal).

...Has to be enabled/disabled for each window.  I can enable/disable Discover with a single option.  Of course I do not want to log in with Remote Desktop, and then manually enable this option for every application I run ... and then manually disable it again if I no longer want it.

...Has undesirable effects.  For example, I just enabled it for "All Windows".  When I did so, it made my Miranda IM window unusable.  I can create a rule for this window, and disable the "restrict placement" option for it, but how many times will I have to do this?

It's OK, I can continue using Discover...  Thank you anyway.
 
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Alexey Fadeyev
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Joined: 09/30/2005
Posted: 09/20/2006 02:49:04
 
 
 Scott, please, describe where do you have AWM installed. Is it on your local machine or on the remote machine? And do you use the remote machine normally as a workstation?
 
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Scott
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 Posts: 141
Joined: 04/11/2005
Posted: 09/20/2006 02:58:41
 
 
 AWM is installed on my desktop.  I often use log into my desktop remotely from another machine (which does not have AWM installed).  So, AWM is on the remote machine only.
 
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Alexey Fadeyev
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Posted: 09/26/2006 10:06:11
 
 
 As we fix the "Restrict placement" functionality in the last beta, I would recommend you to check it again.

In your case, the possible way of using this feature is to create the separate configuration with the All Window rule enabled only, then define there the restrictions and create the shortcut with the command line like "C:\Program Files\Actual Window Manager\ActualWindowManagerCenter.exe" C NewConfig.ini. So you could click this shortcut to enable the constraints while working remotely. Unfortunately, this doesn't resolve the issue with the command prompt windows and lacks you the settings made in the specific rules of your original configuration. But despite this, I suggest you to use this feature because it seems useful even in its current state.
 
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Alexey Fadeyev
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 Posts: 1427
Joined: 09/30/2005
Posted: 12/16/2006 06:16:40
 
 
 Scott, I have finally added your request to our wishlist so one of the future releases of AWM will behave similarly to the mentioned Discover utility. Thank you for the useful suggestion.
 
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