Position and Dualmonitor

[mw42]

Hi, I really love this program. But the position gets lost after restarting the program. I use two monitors and the build 914. Is there anything I can do?
Thanks a lot for you help.

[Carlos]

I don't have a dual monitor right now so I can't make tests.

But just make a small one if you don't mind:

1) start CAD

2) make sure to set "Normal" to its window level (right click>Window>Normal)

3) place CAD where you'd like it to be

4) close CAD

5) start it again

Anyway, CAD saves its position when you exit it unless it is minimized.

[mw42]

Thanks for the fast reply. But the windows-state doesn't change the problem. If only one monitor is activated, everything works fine. As soon as the second monitor is on, cad starts in the center of the main window. I checked the top and left-position in the settings.ini, but couldn't figure out, what they mean (not a pixel-position? somewhere around the top left seems to be the center). But the position gets saved when i close the program (the values change).

Perhaps it is important to say, that the screens run in different resolutions:
http://www.MaxWeise.de/Dualmonitor.gif

[bobthecow]

fwiw, monitor position doesn't seem to get messed up for me, and i have almost the same setup.

CAD remembers its position on either monitor, whether the window is normal or pinned.

i do have a thought though. you might have something that repositions popups and windows to your main display, or tries to remember window positions (i.e. nVidia's Desktop Manager). try disabling anything like that and see if it acts more like it should.

an interesting note on dual monitor setups, however: tooltip text (on the invisible buttons) shows up on the primary monitor, even when CAD is on the secondary monitor. interesting...

[bobthecow]

one more dual monitor quirk:

when the control panel is open on any monitor other than the primary, it doesn't really work. clicking on the tree on the left doesn't change the content on the right. works just fine when the control panel is on the primary monitor though.

not a huge issue, mostly just confusing before i figured out what was going on.

[Carlos]

I need to buy a second monitor! :D

[noroom]

Yeah, please fix this!

I've been using a second monitor for 2 months now, and I've given up on CAD. I'm still using it, but since it pretty much chooses where it wants to appear (Pinned on the desktop) I don't pay as much attention to it as before. :(

Anything I can do to help fix this, count me in.

[Carlos]

noroom

I'll try to get a second monitor next year so I can try to fix this.

Meanwhile I've made a build that accepts a custom Top and Left values.

Just add the following lines in settings.ini where "xx" is your custom value:

CustomLeft=xx
CustomTop=xx

Doing so CAD will only use this values. It will not try to save its position.

Maybe you can find a value that makes CAD more stable using dual monitor.

http://www.closetosoftware.com/temp/cadrc5b218.zip

Thanks.

[noroom]

This is what it looks like:
http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/6242/screenshotoa8.th.jpg (http://img409.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screenshotoa8.jpg)

And it doesn't respond to clicks anymore, so I have to enable the tray icon to control it. It's always been like this with CAD and dual screens. :(

[Carlos]

Did you try to adjust the text position?

[noroom]

The thing is, the text position is fine for single monitor, but it messes up in dual screen. And the Pad options for the text notifier don't move the text in the left/right direction (Pad left doesn't work) but the up/down direction does work (Pad top).

And also, the CD case doesn't react to clicks.

[Carlos]

First of all thank you for your patience! :)

In this build CAD will use the CustomTop and CustomLeft to set the text position too.

Since we're just testing the feature was added only for the text element (not for progress bar or rating or mirror etc.) and CAD will not be moveable.

The main problem is that CAD can't count on the main form position.

http://www.closetosoftware.com/temp/cadrc5b226.zip

[Carlos]

In addition noroom please test the little application below that shows the form position from an API and VB point of view:

http://www.closetosoftware.com/temp/mmtest.rar

Thx! :)

[noroom]

Carlos, the new build you posted fixes the Notifier text. Now it's where it should be. :) Good work. The Custom coordinates seem to work.

And I tried the mmtest.exe program. It always shows the same value in both, API and VB textboxes, no matter where I move it. There's no difference there.

I guess the problem is when you pin it to the desktop. CAD works when it's in normal mode, but pinned to desktop breaks its positioning system.

[Carlos]

You're right noroom. I remember an user that let CAD in normal mode so he could use it with his dual monitor.

Now the test program will be pinned:

http://www.closetosoftware.com/temp/mmtest.rar

Thx.

By the way, even with the custom position you can't use CAD pinned, can you?

[noroom]

Even with custom position, CAD doesn't respond to the mouse. It's like it's not there, when I right-click it, I get the popup menu that you see when you right-click the desktop. :?

The mmtest still works. API and VB show the same coordinates for all positions. Maybe CAD is doing something wrong, not saving negative positions? For example, these are the 4 cornes of my main screen:

Top left: 0 / 0
Top right: 22260 / 0
Bottom left: 0 / 13245
Bottom right: 22260 / 13245

And these are the ones of my secondary screen, which is left of my main screen:

Top left: -19200 / 1920
Top right: -2940 / 1920
Bottom left: -19200 / 11415
Bottom right: -2940 / 11415

As you can see, all x-coordinates are negative. Could this be the problem? Maybe CAD has a protection to not go outside the screen?

[Carlos]

But if you let CAD NOT pinned then it works, right?

Did you try to make the second monitor at right (to avoid negative values)? Are you using any program to manage dual monitor?

Thank you again for testing. I hope to fix it next year...

[noroom]

When CAD is not pinned, it works (even without Custom settings).

I tried switching my monitors, and it also works fine, even when pinned! So I think this is only an issue when the primary monitor is to the right. It's funny, because I use CAD in the main screen, so it shouldn't be bothered by the extra space to the left (negative-X)... but apparently it is. It works perfect though. Correct position, popup menu works, hidden buttons work, everything!

And I use UltraMon to manage my screens, but the problems also occur when I don't run it, so it has nothing to do with it.

[Carlos]

Thanks noroom!

At least there's a way to make it work! :)

[noroom]

Yeah, the problem is... My screens can't be switched around. I need the main one to the right. So, until you can find a way to fix this, CAD will act weird on my computer :?

Happy new year! :)

[Carlos]

Happy new year too! :D

[bobthecow]

wow... i was running into the same thing. whenever i pinned CAD it didn't respond to clicks. same deal with dual monitors, primary on the right. i just figured that's how CAD works when pinned :)

[noroom]

Rainlendar has the same problem.

Look here: http://www.rainlendar.net/cms/index.php?option=com_joomlaboard&Itemid=27&func=view&id=91&catid=4
Read the whole thing.

Maybe you can contact him and you can work the problem out together? :)

[Carlos]

Thank you for the link.