Grabbing a window title bar



  • One thing that really got my goat today is grabbing window title bars and expecting to be able to move the window, but instead it adjusted the size of the window in the vertical direction, so then I had to grab the bottom of the window and shrink it until it was the size I wanted it. I did this several times before deciding I needed more coffee and took a break. 

    Don't suppose it possible to disable this behaviour? Why would anyone want to resize a window from the titlebar? Isn't that what the bottom right corner is meant for? 

    The other thing that got me is explorers new "I think I know where you want that window, I'll reposition it for you" rather than just putting windows where I want them, but thankfully someone already knew how to disable this absurd behavior. Its like that blood paperclip all over again!



  •  Pardon, what OS are we talking about?


  • Garbage Person

    @PSWorx said:

     Pardon, what OS are we talking about?

    It sounds like Windows, but I'll be fucked if I can find either of the two 'features' he's complaining about. Maybe he has some insane Windows 11 prototype?


  • @Mole said:

    One thing that really got my goat today is grabbing window title bars and expecting to be able to move the window, but instead it adjusted the size of the window in the vertical direction, so then I had to grab the bottom of the window and shrink it until it was the size I wanted it. I did this several times before deciding I needed more coffee and took a break. 

    Don't suppose it possible to disable this behaviour? Why would anyone want to resize a window from the titlebar? Isn't that what the bottom right corner is meant for? 

    The other thing that got me is explorers new "I think I know where you want that window, I'll reposition it for you" rather than just putting windows where I want them, but thankfully someone already knew how to disable this absurd behavior. Its like that blood paperclip all over again!

    Similar problem with "comment" fields in XL (Office 2010 version). You can resize the things, and you can (with a delicate touch) move them, but when you hover over the field to which you added a comment it stays in the origina place it was put, which is defiantly to the right of its column. Which makes it an arsepain to put a viewable comment in the last column of your spreadsheet.



  • Surely this is only a problem in DoubleSoft ThorOS.



  • @PSWorx said:

     Pardon, what OS are we talking about?

    Glad you asked, I'm confused too. There is about 1 pixel of title bar in Windows you can use to resize a window, but... it's really hard to believe you could grab it by accident when trying to grab the title bar.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @blakeyrat said:

    There is about 1 pixel of title bar in Windows you can use to resize a window, but... it's really hard to believe you could grab it by accident when trying to grab the title bar.

    Yeah, my thought, too. Seems like most WMs allow you to resize windows from any border by default for "normal" windows. Sounds like the OP was incredibly accidentally precise with his clicks. Or the app that he's using is fucking him over.



  • @boomzilla said:

    @blakeyrat said:
    There is about 1 pixel of title bar in Windows you can use to resize a window, but... it's really hard to believe you could grab it by accident when trying to grab the title bar.

    Yeah, my thought, too. Seems like most WMs allow you to resize windows from any border by default for "normal" windows. Sounds like the OP was incredibly accidentally precise with his clicks. Or the app that he's using is fucking him over.

    Or he's using classical window design and set the border width to 20 pixels.



  • Or he upgraded to OS X 10.7, which switched to Windows-style all-corners-resize.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    @PSWorx said:

     Pardon, what OS are we talking about?

    Glad you asked, I'm confused too. There is about 1 pixel of title bar in Windows you can use to resize a window, but... it's really hard to believe you could grab it by accident when trying to grab the title bar.

     

    My bet goes to QWOP OS.

     



  • I've seen a few Linux apps that do something similar and equally annoying: when you try to resize the window, it just moves instead. You grab the lower right corner and drag, and the upper left corner moves the same amount, so the window is just moving and not changing size. FFS, first of all 90% of these apps have no reason not to allow resizing, and secondly if you're going to disable resizing, do it right instead of this stupid hack that makes it look like it's still enabled.


  • BINNED

    Time to bring back the mug?


  • Garbage Person

    @lolwtf said:

    I've seen a few Linux apps that do something similar and equally annoying: when you try to resize the window, it just moves instead. You grab the lower right corner and drag, and the upper left corner moves the same amount, so the window is just moving and not changing size. FFS, first of all 90% of these apps have no reason not to allow resizing, and secondly if you're going to disable resizing, do it right instead of this stupid hack that makes it look like it's still enabled.
     

     

    Hell, I've written apps where resizing makes no sense and does nothing but turn form layouts into hideous caricatures of their true self. I allow resizing anyway because, hey, if the user asks to be stupid, let them be stupid. Of course, I still have to protect them from making the window too small, but that's no big deal.



  • I assume he's talking about Windows Vista/7 with Aero Glass, where there is an approx. 8 pixel resize border around each window by default and it's very easy to hit this border instead of the proper title bar when trying to move a window (since there is no visual distinction between the two).

    It can be "fixed" using a tool or a registry hack.



  • @mallard said:

    I assume he's talking about Windows Vista/7 with Aero Glass, where there is an approx. 8 pixel resize border around each window by default and it's very easy to hit this border instead of the proper title bar when trying to move a window (since there is no visual distinction between the two).

    It can be "fixed" using a tool or a registry hack.

    Or by disabling Aero...



  • @mallard said:

    I assume he's talking about Windows Vista/7 with Aero Glass, where there is an approx. 8 pixel resize border around each window by default and it's very easy to hit this border instead of the proper title bar ...

    What do you call that expanse of pixels when it declines to actually display a title or an icon?



  • @mallard said:

    it's very easy to hit this border instead of the proper title bar
     

    I don't think "very easy" is the words I'd use to describe the ratio of titlebar height / resize area. I believe that ratio to be sufficiently large, and I've personally never made such a mistake.



  • @Daniel Beardsmore said:

    What do you call that expanse of pixels when it declines to actually display a title or an icon?
     

    the...

     

    the..

     

     er...

     

    the bar.



  • @Daniel Beardsmore said:

    What do you call that expanse of pixels when it declines to actually display a title or an icon?

    Waste of nonclient area.

     



  • @mallard said:

    I assume he's talking about Windows Vista/7 with Aero Glass, where there is an approx. 8 pixel resize border around each window by default and it's very easy to hit this border instead of the proper title bar when trying to move a window (since there is no visual distinction between the two).

    It can be "fixed" using a tool or a registry hack.

    Or just look at your mouse before you click and drag. Not rocket science here.



  • Indeed it is Windows 7.

    Sometimes you don't have time to look at your mouse before you click and drag. Sometimes you have a director breathing fire down your neck (which just happened to bring along an array of customers at last minute notice to make your even more nervous and prone to mistakes...) 



  • @Mole said:

    Sometimes you don't have time to look at your mouse before you click and drag.


    1. Look at the screen to determine a location to move the mouse to.
    2. Move the mouse to that location.
    3. If at any point during the preceding operations you broke eye contact with the monitor, verify steps 1 & 2 were completed. (such as because a dragon, or other fire-breathing mythical creature, is at your desk)
    4. Click the mouse button.

    By follow these helpful operating guidelines, you, your mouse, your OS, and dragon-boss will enjoy a happy, healthy relationship.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @Mole said:

    Sometimes you don't have time to look at your mouse...

    I've never heard this euphemism before. Thanks.



  • @Mole said:

    Indeed it is Windows 7.

    Sometimes you don't have time to look at your mouse before you click and drag. Sometimes you have a director breathing fire down your neck (which just happened to bring along an array of customers at last minute notice to make your even more nervous and prone to mistakes...)

    So it's obviously Microsoft's fault that you can't stay cool under pressure. I see now.



  • @Mole said:

    Indeed it is Windows 7.

    Sometimes you don't have time to look at your mouse before you click and drag. Sometimes you have a director breathing fire down your neck (which just happened to bring along an array of customers at last minute notice to make your even more nervous and prone to mistakes...) 


    I thought not looking at the mouse is the standard way to get anything done?

    It's rather difficult to move stuff on your screen if you're looking at your mouse instead of said screen. :)



  • @Rhywden said:

    @Mole said:
    Indeed it is Windows 7.

    Sometimes you don't have time to look at your mouse before you click and drag. Sometimes you have a director breathing fire down your neck (which just happened to bring along an array of customers at last minute notice to make your even more nervous and prone to mistakes...)


    I thought not looking at the mouse is the standard way to get anything done?

    It's rather difficult to move stuff on your screen if you're looking at your mouse instead of said screen. :)

    Look, it's the pedantic dickweed in his purest form.



  • @dhromed said:

    @mallard said:

    it's very easy to hit this border instead of the proper title bar
     

    I don't think "very easy" is the words I'd use to describe the ratio of titlebar height / resize area. I believe that ratio to be sufficiently large, and I've personally never made such a mistake.

     

    I retract my earlier statement.

    I just made this very mistake in classic shell in an RDP.

     



  • @Weng said:

    Hell, I've written apps where resizing makes no sense and does nothing but turn form layouts into hideous caricatures of their true self. I allow resizing anyway because, hey, if the user asks to be stupid, let them be stupid. Of course, I still have to protect them from making the window too small, but that's no big deal.

     So you wrap your form in scrollbars. I've had some very frustrating experiences with my netbook where certain preferences dialogs were taller than the screen and didn't support resizing.



  • @pjt33 said:

    So you wrap your form in scrollbars. I've had some very frustrating experiences with my netbook where certain preferences dialogs were taller than the screen and didn't support resizing.

    Amen! WinMove is quite good though, allows you to very quickly move the window up a bit without grabbing the offscreen titlebar or fiddling with menus via keyboard shortcuts.



  • @pjt33 said:

    @Weng said:

    Hell, I've written apps where resizing makes no sense and does nothing but turn form layouts into hideous caricatures of their true self. I allow resizing anyway because, hey, if the user asks to be stupid, let them be stupid. Of course, I still have to protect them from making the window too small, but that's no big deal.

     So you wrap your form in scrollbars. I've had some very frustrating experiences with my netbook where certain preferences dialogs were taller than the screen and didn't support resizing.

    No one in their right mind would care about supporting a netbook.

     



  • @hoodaticus said:

    No one in their right mind would care about supporting a netbook.

     


    No hating on netbooks... I love those devices.

    Except for their crappy low screen resolutions, of course.



  • @Alex Media said:

    @hoodaticus said:
    No one in their right mind would care about supporting a netbook.

     

    No hating on netbooks... I love those devices.

    Except for their crappy low screen resolutions, of course.

     

    I'm okay with the low screen resolutions.  I just don't care for those teensy close-together keys.

     



  • @Alex Media said:

    @hoodaticus said:
    No one in their right mind would care about supporting a netbook.
    No hating on netbooks... I love those devices.

    Except for their crappy low screen resolutions, of course.

     

    +1. The eeePC was pretty much useless (800x480) but 1024x600 is better. 1366x800 (approx) would be an ideal resolution for a 10 inch screen. Or even 768 vertical pixels...

    I have a Samsung NC-10 that I use most days. 3G on the train, better than using an iPhone, but will be looking at getting a cheap Android and using wifi tethering when my contract runs out.


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