KDE Window Position & Size

[SheriffHobbes]

Hello,

I'm not really a Newbie, but it's years ago I lastly used KDE (version 1.x ). Now I'm using KDE 3.5 for several weeks and one thing really annoys me: there are a lot of programs that don't remember their last window position and/or size. They always default to a specific location/size when I close and open them again. I give you some examples:

Program that doesn't remember anything:
- Konqueror

Program that remembers window size, but not position:
- KMail

Nice Program that remembers everything:
- Basket Note Pads

Is there a way to tell these programs to remember their position/size?

And a second question about konqueror: Can I tell konqueror to remember the view mode? I prefer MultiColumn view, but it always defaults to Icon view.

Thanks,
Sheriff Hobbes

[reed9]

Well, never been much of a KDE user myself and haven't touched 3.5 for ages, but, as I recall, in the top left corner (by default) is a buttong for the window options dialogue, which should have an option like "Configure Window Behavior". You should be able to set your desired options, such as remembering position/size, there. Some apps don't always play always play nice with that, though, Firefox traditionally being problematic.

[Rubberman]

Most KDE applications (konqueror, konsole, etc) do remember, as do many other applications (vlc, kaffeine - a kde media player, etc) do, as does the current version of Firefox. As reed9 said, some don't play by the rules, or were written so generically that they are clueless. As someone once said, get over it!

[i92guboj]

By right clicking the window title bar you can access the advanced window properties. There's some place in that dialogs where you can set fixed properties for a given window so kwin will remember them forever.

In any case, don't expect bugs (even simple ones) to ever get fixed. KDE 3.x is unsupported. If you want a full desktop but don't like KDE 4.x nor Gnome then you can try XFCE. If not, just pick a good Window manager that is being actively developed. KDE 3.x is already a dead animal.

[SheriffHobbes]

You're right, this is a possible workaround. I saw this option before but I assumed it is a static value because if I choose "Remember" it shows the current window position behind it. I tried it out and hey, it's not static!

However, this is a little inconvenient. I need to do this for every single application. For some apps even x times! E.g. Thunderbird: for the main window, for "new message", for "read message",...
I guess there is no global KDE option for this?

[SheriffHobbes]

KDE 3.x is already a dead animal.

I'm using RHEL 5.5, so I'm stuck with KDE 3.5. It runs just fine, I don't see a reason for an update.

[i92guboj]

You're right, this is a possible workaround. I saw this option before but I assumed it is a static value because if I choose "Remember" it shows the current window position behind it. I tried it out and hey, it's not static!

However, this is a little inconvenient. I need to do this for every single application. For some apps even x times! E.g. Thunderbird: for the main window, for "new message", for "read message",...
I guess there is no global KDE option for this?

In the advanced dialog you have many possible criteria to match windows. The properties you set in that dialog will affect all the windows that matches your criteria. You only need to find a valid criteria to match all the relevant windows.

All the windows belonging to a given application will probably have a different name but the same class, so use that instead. Or use a shorter more generic string like "irefox" or "hunderbird" or whatever.

I don't have a kde 3.x install to try.

As for the update part, well, if it works for you then it's fine. Problem is that most windows that misbehave are probably doing so due to either your WM not being completely legal or due to the apps themselves not being completely legal about the EWMH/ICCCM standards for window management. Where I am getting at is that you lose any chance that an eventual update will fix these little bugs.

In any case I'd also investigate the kcontrol options in relation with kwin. There might be an option to change where windows are placed when they are mapped.

Last but not least, don't forget that you can use any WM of your choice (for example openbox) in place of kwin inside kde, in case you want to try. I have no idea if that will solve your problem though.

KDE 3.2 and other window managers

[reed9]

In any case, don't expect bugs (even simple ones) to ever get fixed. KDE 3.x is unsupported. If you want a full desktop but don't like KDE 4.x nor Gnome then you can try XFCE. If not, just pick a good Window manager that is being actively developed. KDE 3.x is already a dead animal.

KDE 3.x does live on.
Trinity Desktop Environment

[SheriffHobbes]

Or use a shorter more generic string like "irefox" or "hunderbird" or whatever.

Correct, and if I create a new rule in "window-specific settings" in control panel where I leave everything empty except for geometry-position/size, I get KDE to remember this for all apps by default. That's the solution I was looking for.

[SheriffHobbes]

One correction to my last statement: this is not a solution. When I create such a rule it remembers only one size and position combination for all programs. This means that for example I open konqueror, resize it, close it and than open Opera. Opera will start with the size of konqueror.
So you have to set it for every window or with wildcards for several apps. No big deal either.