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Add an option to save window positions and sizes
 
#1
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I hate to harp on the same subject, but I just ran into this problem.  Again.

I changed the desktop resolution on my system to check something, then ran The Bat!  Instead of showing up with the correct window size and position, with the right column settings, The Bat had reset itself to a size/position/setting that I find unuseable.  I can't think of any other application that does this.

If there's a reason to do this to avoid a bug, fine.  But please, please add an option for some of us to save the current window settings (size, position, columns, column widths, etc.) and keep them.  If I change resolutions or need to change these window settings, let ME change them and save them again, instead of suddenly discarding all the changes I made.

This is on v4.0.38, but the problem's been around pretty much as long as I can remember.
 
 
 
#2
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well I can think of many apps that have a similar behavior after a resolution change. When a saved window position seems somehow improper, which may happen after a resolution change, they reset everything to defaults. That's normal, otherwise a window may go out of the screen or something else.

These settings are stored, I think, in the registry under
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\RIT
You may backup(export) that key from time to time, and if needed merge it back - when theBat is closed, and the resolution is the same as when you exported the key.
 
 
 
#3
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bigg one,

Yes, I would accept that explanation, if the problem is that the new resolution forces part of the window off the screen.  Although even then, I feel a program should do the minimum amount of resizing to make everything fit again.

But that's not the problem I'm running into.  Instead, I'm seeing this happen even if the program window is NEVER offscreen.  Here's an example:

1. Desktop is 1280x768.  My The Bat window is sized the way I want it.  You can see this in the sample image 1 Sample 1.

2. Exit The Bat.  Change desktop to 1024x768 and start The Bat.  The Window is still sized correctly, and nothing is off screen.  Sample 2

3. Exit The Bat.  Change desktop to 1280x800 and start the app again.  Look at the sample image and see what I mean.  At no point is the window ever off screen, but suddenly, The Bat loses all its settings and goes crazy.  Sample 3 bug


Sure, I can save the registry and restore it, but I shouldn't have to.  Heck, even if the window needs to be resized, my feeling is that the columns shouldn't be changed.  If necessary, add horizontal scrollbars so I can choose to resize them myself.
 
 
 
#4
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Indeed it would be better if theBat can save these settings from the GUI. But as it can't do that, saving them yourself is the easiest workaround.
BTW I doubt such feature will be implemented soon, if at all, because changing the resolution is not something one does regularly. I think I haven't changed the resolution of my laptop even once.
 
 
 
#5
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bigg one, nevertheless, this IS a bug, and an annoying one to people like me who do change resolutions fairly often while testing other things.

Yeah, I can basically save the settings by exporting the registry and importing it again, but I shouldn't have to.  And it's especially frustrating because this bug's behavior seems to be something that has to be added to the program.  If The Bat just checked to see if its window is off-screen and moved it (without resizing), everything would be fine.  Heck, even if it resized the window but didn't change the column settings, it'd be pretty good.
 
 
 
#6
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Warner,

Perhaps you are lucky all that happens is a reset. For the past few months every time I have started Voyager it crashes (ticket opened but no response yet).

Installed TB Professional hoping to get around the problem and it now crashes on startup as well. Need a Windows restart to fix in both cases. I couldn't relate any change I had made to the Voyager crashes, but with Pro I had just made a change to the screen layout by maximising the program display in one monitor. Since both programs crash on startup, I couldn't get in and make any changes to settings. What was strange though was that I could take Voyager and run it without problems in a virtual machine on another PC and with the display maximised.

Checked the registry under RIT\The Bat! and the display-related settings (Top, Height, Left, Width, Screen width, height...) all seemed OK. Same for global.ini for Voyager where these settings are stored.

Ran Voyager in the VM and adjusted the display to a non-maximised window, checked global.ini and settings appeared reasonable for the adjustments I had just made.

Back to the main PC to run Voyager and it now starts up without crashing but the display is reset. Adjust the display settings to what I want but without maximising the window (it would be so much easier to just maximise!) and Voyager then runs repeatedly without crashing.

So you are right - there is a major problem with the way the program is handling the display, sometimes resetting and in my case crashing the program. Never maximising the display seems to be the way around it in my case (and it only took me 2 months to work that out  :evil: ).

To try and fix the TB Pro crash I would like to change the registry entries since I can't move Pro to the VM or other PC to run. Anyone know which settings record whether or not the display is maximised on startup - I assume they would be under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\RIT\The Bat!

Steve
 
 
 
#7
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Steve,

This may or may not help, but one thing I've noticed in the past is that TB doesn't always record changes you make to the layout unless the message auto-view pane is opened.  I normally don't have this pane open, so I've learned that any time I make any layout changes, I have to open message auto-view first, do the changes, then close the auto-view.  Otherwise, none of the changes I make are saved.

For you problem, does this happen simply when you maximize, or is it (I'm guessing from your description) when you maximize with extended desktop?  If it's extended desktop mode, does it matter if you maximize to the primary or secondary monitor?

-Warner
 
 
 
#8
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Warner,

Always have had the message auto-view opened, ie View - Message Auto-view has always been selected, so I guess I have never really come across the situation where the settings haven't been saved.

For displays I have the video running into a Matrox DualHead2Go and into 2 x 22" LCDs each 1680 x 1050 resolution. This is defined as just a primary monitor with resolution 3360 x 1050. Probably not the most common setup, but it seems to work OK for TB (Voyager and Professional) when these programs are defined in windows in either of the displays. They both crash when maximised in the second monitor but settings in global.ini (or registry) look ok for the positioning and size in this second monitor.

I'm thinking it could be a TB/Matrox compatibility issue!

Steve
 
 
 
#9
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Am dealing with the same issues----years later.

I have tried customizing the message list columns and then when I close down and exit TheBat and restart it, the new configurization I just setup reverts back to the old one.

dale
 
 
 
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