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Request for ability to complete remove the "free" desktop area used in MDI for random windows not anchored to some side of the screen. In my current MDI config, there is Explorer (anchored NW), Property Sheet (SW), Output Window (SE), and then the free area in NE which contains just a "maximized" Editor window. This works, but all of the widgets for an internal frame are displayed in the free area, and there is a thick useless border around the Editor window which looks bad and wastes pixels. Request to be able to anchor Editor to NE in this case, i.e. completely filling this area just like the other panes do. Then there would be no free area, so I guess newly opened windows not docked into a displayed mode would have to become independent frames; which is probably fine--in such a configuration, if I open Project Settings e.g., it is actually easier to work with if it is a separate native window. Otherwise it overlaps and partially hides the Editor and is just more annoying.
This is an interesting proposal. It seems like the most straightforward way to present it would be to add an item to the "Attach MDI Frame" pull-right. The menu might look like this: Left Right Bottom Top ---- Center Choosing "Center" would force the frame to fill up the entire center area, and would force other windows to be created as independent windows. We would have to warn users who chose "Center" that this would happen! That said, this makes me nervous. It would be very easy for an innocent user to choose "Center", get all the rest of their windows as independent windows, and then assume that our MDI implementation was just broken. I would very much like to post this out on nbui for further discussion! With your blessing, I will post your original enhancement request plus this reply.
Target milestone -> 3.3
*** Issue 13327 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
Created attachment 2244 [details] A patch that adds expert property to IDESettings so that even in MDI mode new windows are opened as separate frames.
Seeing as this wastes screen real estate, could it please get a higher priority - I mean is it not in similar category to 'line number off' as default - to increase screen real estate?
Well, there's easy workaround and you'll get almost the same results: Maximize frame floating in inner desktop and you're all set. No wasting of screen estate, maybe only two pixels of floating frame border... Anyway, raising to P3, but don't expect this to be solved soon - we've crowd of bugs and it will take several months to fix them :-(
Target milestone -> 3.3.1.
I will vote for this myself, mainly on aesthetic grounds: it just looks wrong to have this floating area. Also other bugs aggravate it, esp. that the editor window is not correctly set to maximized after restarting, and occupies some strange position in the free area.
Target milestone -> 3.4
*** Issue 14067 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
Evaluation: This issue is a bit complicated, I will summarize my thoughts: - most users want to have things like editors using as much space as possible, so default behaviour should look like there is no inner desktop - blue thick frame around maximized editor is annoying, must go away somehow - layout without inner desktop could be something like more clever replacement of maximized state of inner desktop as it is today - newly opened windows should go into MDI area (agree with Dirk), probably in form of tabs above "editor" area. We need help and intensive cooperation with UI team here, as this issue leaves many things untouched: - how users will switch between windows in "editor" area? Tabs? List of windows in menu on easily accessible place? - where new windows will appear? As tabs? Separate? Configurable? - how will users switch between "effective" and "desktop" mode? Popup action which will be invoked on desktop or titlebar mouse right-click? - is this change wise without full implementation of DnD support for windows?
Raising priority, UI team want this. Question is about future of current desktop. UI team want to remove it completely and burn the code away. Ideally, I would like to see it as separate experimental part of IDE, but more importanr, as experimental (not directly supported) part of platform (several applications may want to use this approach). Separate in form of separate jar archive, easily pluggable into platform or IDE.
I created an (imaginary) screenshot and posted to a newsgroup some time ago the way I would prefer netbeans lay out the main windows. See the attachment.
Created attachment 4594 [details] Netbeans compact, more of the kind of kawa.
Yes, the imaginary screenshot is exactly what I had in mind.
For what it's worth, I like this screenshot too. But if this is the setup, there would need to be some way to see two files at the same time or quickly navigate between recently used files. For that, I'd suggest issue 16799, quick open file navigation needed.
*** Issue 9135 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
Created attachment 4750 [details] patch11010.jar
Attached prototype of changes suggested by Jano on nbui. What is there (it is for MDI, dev build at least 19 Feb or newer, put jar to lib/patches). 1. Title bar and border removed for maximized internal frame. 2. Buttons to control maximized window are added to right side of menu bar. 3. Main window title contains title of activated frame. What is not there: 1. List of workspace frames in Window menu (http://openide.netbeans.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=16174) 2. Scrollbars are not disabled in inner desktop.
Created attachment 4774 [details] Added line border around maximized frame
Created attachment 4775 [details] Screenshot with blue border
The blue border looks a little weird here, I think. Notice that the tab for the form is a few pixels higher than the tabs in the Explorer. Visually uncomfortable. Otherwise cool.
Command line switch is disabled, new feature is now deafult.
Better say command line switch is removed.
verified in [nb_dev](20020426) I have filed issues: P3 issue 22362 - Maximized window's buttons are in the menu bar after switch MDI -> SDI P3 issue 22380 - Maximized window's buttons are in the menu bar after switching projects P3 issue 22810 - [Windows L&F] Buttons for maximized window aren't visible after close|reopen
Dependency on task #20223 was removed. It was decided not to touch PerimeterLayout in this release.
Resolved for 3.4.x or earlier, no new info since then -> closing.