IDEA: drag window to edge automatically resizes it

[ericslaw]

Where can we post example grid files?  I found it once on this site, but now I cannot find it again

[ericslaw]

Found it just after I posted it.... now if only I could explain how I found it :-(

[dzr]

Thanks - lost track of this. Isn't section 5, the middle section?

Personally, I'd want the entire height, but for the width,  I'd definately want much less than 80%, but somewhat more than the 50% of the 2 part splits.

There's no easy way for us end users to tweak a middle section?

Thanks

Hmmm, not sure of an exact size -- how would I give you a measurement?

-dzr (August 19, 2007, 06:21 PM)

Well... Tell me something in terms of percentage of your screen. I can tell you that the center part of that grid i mentioned (EdgeGrid) takes 80% of the screen height and 80% of the screen width.

The red grid with the number 5 takes 40% of the screen height and 40% of the screen's width.

-jgpaiva (August 20, 2007, 05:46 AM)

[jgpaiva]

I've now uploaded a new version that hopefully has better font rendering (thanks lanux!!).

@dzr: i've attached to this post a very simple grid.
Tweaking it is simple, just edit it with notepad and change the numbers (currently on 0.15) to some other value (from 0 to 1). That controls the size of the empty space left on the right and left of the grid. The bigger the number, the bigger the margin.

[johncck]

Hi jgpaiva, I've been using your GridMove for a while now and really like it a lot.  I saw you have a new version and tried it out but could not figure out how you can change the transparency of the "location preview" boxes?  Help?

[jgpaiva]

Hi john!
There was no way to configure that transparency in previous versions of GridMove.
I've uploaded a new version, which lets you configure the transparency through a .ini parameter. Just follow the following procedure:
Download and update gridmove (from http://jgpaiva.dcmem...rs.com/gridmove.html).
Run the gridmove once.
Open gridmove's folder, and edit "gridmove.ini" with notepad.
Change the "transparency" parameter (255 is full opacity, 0 is full transparency).
Save the file and restart gridmove.

This new version also includes another parameter that can be changed through that same method: MButtonTimeout, as requested by Mark through e-mail.

[johncck]

Hi jgpaiva, thanks for replying so promptly!  It's very nice to see a developer keeping up with the feedback from users.  I'm afraid I have not tried what you advised above because I'm having problems using gridmove on a new tablet pc i bought. 

I bought the Fujitsu T2010 tablet pc a few weeks ago and tried to get gridmove working on it to no avail.  After the initial install and on the first run, it hangs on the help screen.  I have to close the process in task manager.  After that, whenever i click on Gridmove from the start menu, i see it's icon in the system tray.  When I hover my mouse pointer over the icon, i see "GridMove V1.19.40".  All SEEMS to be well.  But, when I right click it to set options, nothing happens.  Nothing happens when I left click as well. 

I thought perhaps some other software I'm using could be interfering with gridmove and since I was planning to reformat my hdd, I wanted to test if this was the case.  I reformated my hdd and did a clean install of windows xp tablet pc 2005.  I installed all my drivers but no software.  After I made sure that all my drivers were in place, I installed gridmove.  Same thing happens!  It hangs on the initial help screen and all subsequent attempts to run it give me a system tray icon with nothing else.  Rebooting doesn't help. 

Any ideas?  Do I need to install any .NET packages?  It's working great on my desktop and now I can't use my tablet pc without it! 

Update:  I just uninstalled V1.19.40 and installed V1.19.26 that I saved previously.  Same problem!  Hangs on help screen.  After that, only gives me a system tray icon when run...  Help please!   

[jgpaiva]

Hey john!

I can recognize that problem.
Please try the solution mentioned in this post.
Unfortunatelly, i can't tell what causes this problem, thus i can't really solve it in a better way that ask people to follow that procedure

[painz]

Thanks for nice program, the only thing - i use it on notebook and when i plug external monitor grid doesnt resize itself, is it possible to enable resolution check before displaying or maybe detect changes in screen rez and reload it automatically?

Also here's my grid, functionality - left/right: 1/2 width, corners: 1/4 size, top: keep on top. 1 monitor support.

[jgpaiva]

Pretty good, painz!
I'll make it dualscreen and post it on the "post your grid here" thread

As for the resizing problem, i also have it, as i have a similar config. Currently, the best way to do that is press win+g followed by 'r', and gridmove will be reloaded.

Auto detection is on my todo list, but it probably will take a while

[rawlinpa]

The feature that I would like to see added would be a list of applications that GridMove does not try to resize and move. It would be an Applications Blacklist and could be empty by default.

The reason I think that this would be useful is that I use clicking and dragging the Title Bar to initiate moving the window. However, many windows are small enough (such as a Buddy List), that I accidentally click them in a spot that triggers GridMove. I know that I can hit Escape to stop the resizing and moving process, but I believe it would be nice to specify programs that GridMove will never try to resize and move.

Congrats on this innovative program!

[jgpaiva]

Hi rawlinpa!
I've been trying to include this in GridMove for a while, but still haven't found the time to do so.
GridMove already includes a blacklist, but it's hardcoded in one variable, and pnly includes a few apps i know that cause trouble.
If you'd like, i could add it to the ini configuration.

What you mentioned about windows being too small and GridMove taking the whole titlebar, that's actually a bug, as there's code to prevent that situation. I'll try to fix it

[JWeetje]

Best of it's kind !!!
What I would like is that I can use it to set my desktop in such a way that parts (like part of left or right side) is unuasable. Meaning that all windows I use qnd maximize only use a designated area of the desktop. So I always will have my shortcuts on the desktop available, or my shortcuts or anything else on the right side. As default. Set once, and then fixed.
If I am not clear, and that happens according my wife, please ask.

[tinjaw]

GridMove is always one of the first few applications I install on a new computer. I can't live without it. Give me GridMove or give me death. I've got two new monitor configurations I need to make grids for now. One is my laptop (1280x800) on the right with an external 1280x1024 LCD to its left. And one for my desktop - which currently has a 22" CRT (same as 20" LCD) in between two 19" LCDs. Each of them at 1280x1024. I took a look at Eric Slaw's but it is too busy for me. Does anybody have a good 3 monitor grid?

[jgpaiva]

JWeetje: GridMove won't replace maximize. But you can use the grid posted here to acomplish something very similar to what you're asking. With this, you drop the windows in the middle of the screen, and they are maximized leaving some space on both sides.

tinjaw: Thanks! I'm using the edge grid on my dual-monitor config, i think it's the best one because it incorporates the 4-part grid (for the second monitor's IM programs) and still has a good work area in the middle

[fbi1970]

I've to submit a bug. GridMove resizes all windows, even if they was not resizeable.
To repro search for a windows which is no resizeable and try to move it in the grid.

Thanks
Gio

[jgpaiva]

hi fbi!
Actually, it isn't exactly a "bug", more of a feature. The problem is that then you can't move them to the size they had before, right?
Here's the solution:
Select the "edge grid", and drop the window on the "Last Size". It'll be resized to the size it had before gridmove last resized it

[fbi1970]

Mmhhh... I understand... But i'd like that GridMove should not resize them so that the grid does not appear. A lot of times I move dialogs such as search dialogs and they move on the grid.

Just a suggestion for a switch in config file.
Even a greit job.

[jgpaiva]

Actually.. To be honest, i don't quite know how to retreive the information about the window being resizable or not
Maybe someone could give me a hand?

[fbi1970]

MMhhh.. You're right . It should be done by combining data about visibility of the maximize/minimize box and the border type of the window but I can't help you. I don't know anything about ahk. If I've time I'll read something about it to help you.

See you later

[TheQwerty]

Actually.. To be honest, i don't quite know how to retreive the information about the window being resizable or not
Maybe someone could give me a hand?

-jgpaiva (November 12, 2007, 04:57 AM)

You could try basing it on the window's style.

[Select]

WinGet winStyle, Style, A
if (winStyle & 0x40000) { ;0x40000 = WS_SIZEBOX = WS_THICKFRAME
   ;code to resize
}

I'm not sure if that'll work for all windows or even if you need to take into account the minimize and maximize/restore buttons as well.

[danadina]

Hey, this is great! I especially like the 'Drag on Window Title' method.    Thank you!

My one problem is that some applications put vital buttons on the left edge of the title bar.  For example, MS-Office 2007, having done away with normal toolbars, puts the most vital toolbar buttons on the left section of the title bar:
 


I can increase GridMove's title size setting, so that I have an area for GridMove that won't trigger the buttons.  The problem is that I can't click the title-bar buttons without triggering GridMove, and thus instantly moving/resizing my window.

Perhaps the most basic solution is for GridMove to ignore a single-click that is not then accompanied by some minimal drag.

For further flexibility, what about giving an additional setting for "title bar inset size", so that I can inset my GridMove zone by a few hundred pixels, thus also keeping the tooltip text from covering my existing buttons' tooltips/menus?  And for that matter, there could be the setting to inset the zone from the _right_ edge of the title bar, instead, or to make the zone be the _center_ section of the title bar.

It wouldn't even be totally necessary to add an interface for adjusting these settings.  --Something in the INI file with an appropriate comment/hint on its meaning would do.

I think this would make GridMove much more compatible with MS-Office 2007 machines.

Thanks again!

Dan

[jgpaiva]

Hey dan!

Yep, it's not the first time someone requests something like that

Just check the TitleLeft variable in the ini file. It represents that "title bar inset size" you mentioned!

The other solution you mentioned would be great too, but i just can't do it right now

[ppass]

Hi,

I would like Gridmove to ignore / exclude some applications that I list. For example, I extensively use VBA with small custom UserForms, and when I move them around, they sometimes end-up being increased and moved with Gridmove, which I want to avoid in this case. So for example, I would like to specify to Gridmove not to play with VBA UserForms. In the Windows API this is referred to as lpClassName = "ThunderDFrame" in the FindWindow function.

http://msdn2.microso...ibrary/ms633499.aspx


Another question, is there a minimum value for "Set Title Size". My experience is that below 30, I cannot click in the left area of the title bar. Is this specific to my system , (I use Windows XP).

[Rgb9001]

Hi everyone,

this is my first post here. I have been looking for a program like gridmove. Let me explain.

Last year AOL released a program called Openride. And I must say that all software released by AOL is trash... except for this one. Truly it is the only aol software I've used and liked. What made it really cool was the interface, a 4 pane design that let you do everything at once. The program itself was a big container that divided screen into 4 quadrants: Email, IM, Web, and Media. When you started the program the browser had most of the view, but all panes were visible. If you clicked on one of the other panes, it would resize and become the largest view, but again, at least a sliver of all panes were visible (There was a maximize button that would bring it to 100% view, when a window was maximized this way the icons of the other quadrants was still available at the top so you could hop between them). There was also a dynamic sizer button, where the vertical and horizontal dividing lines intersected. You could drag this point around and it would automatically resize all the windows based on your input. The video is still up here. http://discover.aol....ur/openride_tour.adp (Watch the intro, and the dynasizer chapter) Well, if the software is so great why am I telling you guys? Well, earlier this year, despite a plethora of good reviews, AOL openride was cancelled completely and is now inoperable. The software was replaced with something called AOL Desktop that takes out the automatic view features and brings back a classic AOL interface (codename: "suck"). I think that most AOL Lusers didn't know how to use it and AOL didn't realize what they had so they scrapped it. I think that gridview, or a new program could be written to behave similarly. However instead of hardcoding certain programs into this container app, one could choose whatever program they wanted to put in any quadrant (Maybe I want winamp in the lower right, and outlook in the upper left one day, and the next I need excel and word open side by side). Also maybe have an option of 2 or 3 panes instead of 4, or have an empty pane, etc.

As you can tell I really really liked Openride and hate to see it go, but the interface idea is just too good to forget. It differs a bit from gridmove in that the program I envision is a program that "houses" other programs and dynamically resizes them, but perhaps it would be easy to do, or maybe it is a new program entirely. Gridmove seems to be kind of on the same page as what I had in mind. What do you think? Is this possible? And again, this is my first time here so if I'm not following protocol let me know.

Thanks for your time!

--R