[Freeciv-Dev] Re: [FreeCiv-Cvs] vas: * Make all windows childs of the toplevel. Th...

[Vasco Alexandre Da Silva Costa <vasc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 16 May 2003, Raimar Falke wrote:
> On Fri, May 16, 2003 at 01:43:08AM +0100, Vasco Alexandre Da Silva Costa 
> wrote:

> > > I think that this change was an error. Previously you had the
> > > science-dialog open but behind the main window (if you have a small
> > > screen). You have used Alt-Tab to show it. But now you either have to
> > > leave it closed and open it on demand or leave it open but move it
> > > outside the main window. The latter costs screen space.
> >
> > Minimize it. I made all those windows minimizable some days ago.
>
> And this helps exactly how?
>
> We have:
>
> Old behavior: Alt-Tab to hide it, Alt-Tab to show. Position remains.
>
> Open & Close: Mouse click or Alt-C to hide, Mouse click or F* to
> show. Position is lost.
>
> Minimize: Mouse click to hide (There may be a keyboard shortcut. I
> never used it.), mouse click to show (this mouse click is also more
> expensive since I have to search in enlightenment's iconbox). Position
> remains.

In Windowmaker (probably also in MacOS X I dunno) the default way of
organizing your desktop is minimize/maximize. It works.

In case you did not notice, if you minimize (ALT+F9) the science dialog
(or any of the reports or the city dialogs) and select to open the science
dialog again from the menu (or press F6), the window maximizes right into
the old place. Your point is moot.

It is even easier to manage when you have lots of dialogs than ALT-TABing
to death to go to window #6.

If you do not like the windows close them. Open them again when you want
them. Close the science dialog with ALT+F4 (this should always work fine
in the GTK+ 2.0 client unlike in the old one) or ALT+C and pop it up again
with F6.

Regarding the position loss with open/close I know some window managers,
like kwm, can save the position and size. I even added some hints that
should fix some old longstanding problems kwm had with the window names.

I may make the reports always pop up centered under the mouse if you feel
that speeds things up.

> At least for me the old behavior has clear advantages.

That is if you do not mind that when you use click to focus, like a lot
of people do including all the Redhat 8 and 9 users with the default
configuration, report and city windows misteriously are sent to back
whenever a window which goes on top of the toplevel is opened, like the
find dialog, tile units dialog, etc. i.e. the bug that patch fixed.

The alternative is to use the old way: none of the windows are on top of
the toplevel. This means you can lose track of some windows easily
beneath the forest of windows of the other apps you are running.
I know I did so quite often.

Also in case you did not notice most applications on Windows work the way
the GTK+ 2.0 client works now. i.e. app windows are always on top of the
root app window. Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, etc.

People get used to it.

---
Vasco Alexandre da Silva Costa @ Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisboa