I'm using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS using the default (unity?) interface (with some gnome-panel stuff running too).  At the top I have the time, networking, switch user stuff along with the menu of whatever application I'm using.  At the left (on autohide) I have the "dock" where I can launch applications.  At the bottom I have the old gnome  taskbar.
 
The problem is that whenever I drag a window partially off my screen, by default, it autosnaps back to being completely on the screen (when I release the mouse). This is a problem because I will often be visually aligning two windows one on top of the other and each takes up (due to poor application interface design) over half of the screen vertically (and resizing every window is not feasible).  So, every time it snaps back, it covers up the other window at least partially. Further, it sometimes will snap to the bottom of the screen regardless of where on the screen I had dragged a window to (even if the window is fully on the screen). In CompizConfig I disabled the "grid" plugin, and still had this problem.
 
On CompizConfig I found the option in Window Management for the "Move" plugin. I found the box "Constrain Y" which, when unchecked, will allow me to partially drag windows off the bottom of the screen.  However, when I do this, new windows that spawn on application launch (e.g. if I launch firefox) will have their title bars under my OS header bar (with the time/date, etc). To close windows, I right click on their entry on my taskbar and select "close" or exit the application completely on the main menu. Further, the application that I'm using to do the visual comparison has the ability to launch sub-windows of its own. For some insane, non-configurable reason some of these windows will spawn COMPLETELY off the screen on the bottom. To move these, I right click on the taskbar entry, select "move" and then move my mouse upward to drag the window back on the screen (and then click to deposit it). So, for two reasons having the "constrain y" seems to be a necessity.
 
Is there a middle ground somewhere?  Can I constrain the Y of just the window title line between the 2nd "text line" and the 2nd from last line on the screen (so I can click on it directly to drag it around the screen whereever I want and not having it hide under interface reserved lines). Alternatively can I "fake" my y resolution as being 150% greater than it really is, so that I can have extra space to dump windows to go off the bottom of my screen? Is there an alternate plug-in that accomplishes either of these? Also, out of curiosity, why is there not a "constrain x" if there's a "constrain y"?

kde/gnome and linux in general has many display issues. Nvidia even strips away certain opengl features due to compatibility issues. I've learned it's best to just live with the gui issues or try different flavors of linux (centos, fedora). I have linux for this. The gui for ubuntu should be built off of Qt. I only have linux servers so I never really spend too much time with the desktop interface.

I've been poking around a bit more, but still have the problem.
 
Under Window Management:
Enabled plugins: Move, Resize, Place, Scale
(Scale is required by Ubuntu Unity Plugin, which I assume I need)
Move: if I turn this off, I can't drag/drop to move windows, so I need it.  Similar for "resize".
Place options: workarounds enabled, use active device.  The "force placement windows" line is blank.
Fixed windows placement: I now have an entry for my application that spawns windows off-screen to to to (x,y)=(20,20).  I keep unchecking "keep in workarea" but any time I come back to the settings screen from another control panel, it's re-enabled.
In Move: I have the constrain y off.
 
If I disable "fixed windows placement" and have "constrain y" (from move) off it doesn't snap the windows to the bottom of the screen.  If I have "fixed windows placement" enabled, I can get the problematic application to spawn new windows on-screen...at the cost of keeping everything on-screen (whenever any window loses focus, it generally snaps to the bottom of the screen, regardless of if it was dragged off or not)

Here is most likely what you are wanting to do.
 
If you haven't installed the 'Compiz Config Settings Manager' please do so. This will allow for more advanced features and configuration of your windows manager to be enabled.
 
From there you'll want to execute this by going to Applications > System Tools > Preferences and click “Compiz Config Settings Manager” to launch it.
 
Scroll down to the 'Windows Management' and uncheck 'place windows' to free up the configuration from auto-placing the windows. Leave the 'Grid' checked but select it so you can see the more advanced features of the edges themselves. You can change their settings to 'none' which will no longer execute any auto-placement actions for the windows management system. This should disable the snap feature (of which I find annoying).
 
Prior to finishing this and closing down the configuration panel you'll want to enable the 'put' settings in order to keep your controls from moving off screen. Check the 'Put' plugin and select it. From there select 'Misc Options' and checkmark the 'Avoid Offscreen' option. Select back and close the manager to enable these options.
 
From what you are wanting to do I think this will accomplish that task and will behave as you expect it to.
 

That is probably exactly what I need.  However, for some reason right now when I have the grid box checked, I get a segfault and my display manager shuts down.  Fortunately my terminal was loaded and the config settings wizard was still open and responsive on my system, so I was able to uncheck the grid box and do a compiz --replace.
 
However, it seems that "grid" is corrupt, so I need to do something about that before I can get a responsive system.
Checking if settings need to be migrated ...no
Checking if internal files need to be migrated ...no
Backend     : gconf
Integration : true
Profile     : unity
Adding plugins
Initializing core options...done
Initializing composite options...done
Initializing opengl options...done
Initializing decor options...done
Initializing move options...done
Initializing grid options...done
Segmentation fault (core dumped)

What is happening is that the CCSM is unchecking the 'unity' as your desktop in the settings. Find this and re-enable. That should take care of your issue with the grid not working and segfaulting. This is an issue that has been reported but I had thought they'd fixed it by now on the LTS for 12.04. Seems not. Ensure that your default settings in ~./gconf are set correctly for your profile once you launch the CCSM to make the snapping work properly.

I'm not sure what you mean by it is unchecking unity.  The Compiz Ubuntu Unity Plugin is enabled.
 
I have a .gconf directory, but what I'm looking for there I'm not sure:P I do see the "desktop" subdirectory has only a gnome sub.
In my CCSM preferences I have my profile set to "unity" (rather than "default".  The backend is GConf Configuration Backend (rather than flat file).  The "integration" box is checked
 
I have an xml file at apps/compiz-1/plugins/grid/screen0/options that indicates my modifications from default.

In any case, in accordance with one of the threads I saw, "snap windows to original size" appears to have been the problematic setting.  In any case, to get a fresh start on this whole deal, I did a unity --reset.

okay...resetting has solved most of my issues.  However, with "Place windows" off, new windows of any application when launched from the dock or desktop invariably open with the title bar of the application merged with the OS title bar, lacking the minimize/maximize/close buttons in the process. There are about 2 pixels (vertically) selectable that you can drag the window from that position (or you can alt+click on the window body can allow you to move the window).  Playing with values in the Put plugin (or move, grid, etc) don't seem to affect this behavior.
 
The place windows plugin handles this aspect better, but it snaps partially offscreen windows back to the screen fully (as referred to earlier in this thread).
 
Sometimes the global bar also displays text of a not-in-focus application until you click on the global bar.

I'll take a look further tonight on my test machine with unity installed. I've already migrated most of my systems to CentOS 6.3 and using the previous version of Gnome (2.x) which does not contain unity. I do have a virtual machine which I can get the proper settings from using the CCSM.
 
Did you also use the settings for 'Put' in the CCSM to keep that control portion from disappearing? That might no longer be set since the 'unity --reset' was done.
 
Yes the directory .gconf should hold the specific desktop settings for that user considering it's not global settings. Those exist elsewhere so you should be fine with your reset.

Thanks for all the help thusfar.  It has been excellent.
In any case, I had been planning on using CentOS on this laptop way back when I was installing linux. However, CentOS, Debian and another distro failed to recognize my display adapter.  I played with CentOS in command-prompt (runlevel 3?) mode for a while to try to find alternate/experimental drivers, but none of them could handle graphics for my computer.  Ubuntu worked straight off the install.
I regret having "upgraded" to the latest Ubuntu when they introduced Unity. I'm a focus-follows-mouse diehard (I've "hacked" windows 7 to allow linux-like FFM), and that is fundamentally damaged in unity due to the mac-like global menu, so have suffered without it.  Most of my work and all of my recreational computer use is in windows, but there are some applications for work that I cannot run in an windows environment.
Unfortunately I also didn't put much effort into finding a good emulation environment for linux within windows - I was partially concerned with processor speed, but given the amount of time I waste on rebooting to switch OSes, the speed advantage of a native linux environment is neutralized or reversed.
 
If I were to abandon-ship on unity, what would be the best windows-like FFM-supporting GUI overlay to use? Would that be supported within ubuntu, or would I have to install a different distro and re-install all my apps as well?

Just curious as to which laptop you were using to install CentOS on. It appears that CentOS 6 is much more tolerant of the older hardware and more compatible with them. I have a desktop version of CentOS 6 that is running on an old Gateway ML6720.
 
As far as abandoning Gnome Unity you can most likely just switch to the Gnome Panel which is also installed by default. No need to reinstall the applications. Just logout of the session and in the upper right corner of the login screen is an ubuntu symbol next to your username. Click that and select 'Gnome Panel' for the window manager. It should keep that setting and all your installed applications will be there and it should operate as it was under 11.10. If not you can always install the gnome panel by doing the following:

 $ sudo apt-get install gnome-session-fallback 

or

 $ sudo apt-get install gnome-panel 

 
After that is done (if necessary) you'll be able to switch from Unity to the previous Gnome Panel for operations.
 
The login panel should look similar to the following when looking to switch. The bottom one is 'Unity' which is normally the default.
 

 
[edit]
By the way, you could also have disabled the 'windows snapping' option all the way in CCSM by just disabling the module and restarting the windows manager. Unfortunately that doesn't appear to keep the windows from refocusing in the center and maximized when switching workspaces. That, it seems, is a bug in Unity and the workspaces themselves. I've looked for any apt solution but I'll have to dive further into the workspace management application in Unity to see if there is a switch or setting to keep that from happening.
[/edit]

James_L

Did you also use the settings for 'Put' in the CCSM to keep that control portion from disappearing? That might no longer be set since the 'unity --reset' was done.

Put is set to "avoid offscreen"
But the window isn't off the screen...it's just (potentially) off the usable area of the desktop.
 
I guess if the windows were on top of the header bar/general menu in z-stack space, that'd be fine...but I wouldn't want it to be over my gnome taskbar at the bottom.  I'm not sure if it matters or not if it's over the dock/dash...but right now it's putting the new windows flush left with the right of that, so it's a non-issue (it's kind of odd that it respects dash's placement, but not the header menu).
 
I've tried setting "pad top" within "Put" to 50, but that doesn't do anything that I can detect.
 
As to your edit on the other post: what module are you saying I could disable?  I've had "snapping windows" disabled all along.  Disabling Put doesn't do what I need.  If I disable Move/Resize I can't even shuffle around my windows to my desire.  Scale can't be disabled without disabling the unity plugin, which I assume (perhaps falsely:P) is essential for this desktop manager.
 
Edit: based on the documentation of Put, it is used to place windows that already exist (with key presses or mouse actions to affect the active window).  Is there a way to pass windows to Put (with a placement parameter) on instantiation/creation? 

pagelm

As to your edit on the other post: what module are you saying I could disable?  I've had "snapping windows" disabled all along.  Disabling Put doesn't do what I need.  If I disable Move/Resize I can't even shuffle around my windows to my desire.  Scale can't be disabled without disabling the unity plugin, which I assume (perhaps falsely:P) is essential for this desktop manager.

 
You are correct on your thoughts in regards to scale and the unity plugin. They seem to be intertwined tightly at this point with Gnome 3.x. If you already have the 'window snapping' module disabled and it still performs irregularly then that module isn't working right and is still bugged from what I can tell in regards to the bug reports. I did that in trying to resolve this on the virtual machine with 12.04 LTS here and it also did the same thing you are experiencing. I'll be taking a deeper look into the configuration later tonight after my schedule clears up a bit. I'll see what I can find. Did you happen to try reverting to the classic Gnome panel desktop without unity to see if this problem persists on that?
 
[edit]
I have found a thread here which seems to be fairly similar in the notion about window snapping. The 'solution', however, is not really acceptable in my eyes. Disabling the plugins for the desktop removes functionality of which might be useful in order to eliminate a single annoying factor. I know there is a report about it and in the thread this particular circumstance seems to be unreported on a large scale. I doubt they'll fix the issue since hardly anyone seems to be concerned about the behavior of the windows manager and it's placements. There are threads of which irregular movement of applications in workspaces have been reported and I think the developers will rectify that situation. Still I'm going to do a deeper look into the compiz settings and the configuration of the overall unity/Gnome desktop and see if there is something that will point in one direction or another.
[/edit]

no.  I have not had the opportunity to do that.  I have gnome-panel running already and may be hiding various toolbars normally associated, so I don't know if I would lose critical functionality. In other words, it's not something that I wish to deal with in the middle of a workday, but only after having backed up critical data and interface info.

pagelm


no.  I have not had the opportunity to do that.  I have gnome-panel running already and may be hiding various toolbars normally associated, so I don't know if I would lose critical functionality. In other words, it's not something that I wish to deal with in the middle of a workday, but only after having backed up critical data and interface info.

 
Understood and I agree. That is also why I'm not really diving into the configuration of Unity or the older Gnome-panel itself right now. I'll wait till the items I have previously scheduled to work on are completed before I go hacking into the configuration files.

hey cool.  a thread you linked linked to this one: https://bugs.launchpad.ne...rce/compiz/+bug/974242
 
so it looks like I install the PPA in #23, assuming they have a 64 bit ver?  then re-enable place?

pagelm


hey cool.  a thread you linked linked to this one: https://bugs.launchpad.ne...rce/compiz/+bug/974242

so it looks like I install the PPA in #23, assuming they have a 64 bit ver?  then re-enable place?

 
It does appear so. I've looked into the PPA itself and it appears there are .amd64 versions available for installation so it may be appropriate for the x86_64 version you are running. Add the PPD and see if that package will install on your x64. I'll take a look at the x86 versions as they are there as well.
 
[edit]
I have installed the PPA and this operates exactly as expected. No unusual issues and fixes a number of windows snapping bugs. Nice catch and I think this will easily correct those problems you are experiencing.
[/edit]
 
[edit2]
I didn't get a notification for restart but I did so just to ensure the new changes were effective. Just in case you were wondering with my previous edit.
[/edit2]

other than compiz crashing when I disabled Put, everything seems perfect. Thanks again.
 
Edit: I think we have to wait on the final call until tomorrow.  I'm at home now and at home I use a 4:3 aspect ratio external monitor rather than my letterbox laptop monitor...so it's always possible it responds well to the desktop dimensions of the 4:3, but not generally.
 
 

pagelm


other than compiz crashing when I disabled Put, everything seems perfect. Thanks again.

Edit: I think we have to wait on the final call until tomorrow.  I'm at home now and at home I use a 4:3 aspect ratio external monitor rather than my letterbox laptop monitor...so it's always possible it responds well to the desktop dimensions of the 4:3, but not generally.

I'll wait to see if this is resolved tomorrow then.

Since I haven't seen a reply for a few days I'll consider this resolved. At least to a workable solution till the next iteration of Unity is released. Hopefully they'll implement the patched solution. Everything seems to be working on this end for both the x86 but the amd64 (x86_64) implementations.

I can now confirm that all is well. I had a stretch of several days where I was exclusively using windows and didn't get a chance to test it.
 
Additionally, I managed to address another annoyance in the same evening where an application wasn't sharing the global (or any) clipboard with highlight/middle-click.  That was annoying;)  Was about to ask about it here when I found someone else who had the same problem with the same application.  I'm not sure what the root cause was, but using a different pre-compiled executable solved it.

Glad to see the annoyances are resolved. I think we can safely mark this [Solved] until the next discussion we have about Linux.
 
I'll be installing BakcTrack 5.3 onto a laptop here in the mean time so that I can test out the tools using an older range of hardware. Should prove interesting.

AB Was Here by request... 

Afterburner


AB Was Here by request... 

 
Thank you AB. I am always honored when you show up to one of the threads I am helping in.