Problem Adjusting Window

[Gene Wirchenko]

Dear Win7ers:

I run with the taskbar at the top of the screen. I find it more
useful that way. Some programs do not handle that quite right, and I
have to manually adjust so that the window is properly maximised.

Unfortunately, this does not work with one program. It is the
on-line help for Microsoft Visual FoxPro. Under Windows 7, when I
start the help, it sometimes displays with the titlebar under the
taskbar. When I right-click on the taskbar item for it, I do not get
a full menu as with Windows XP where I can select Maximize. Instead,
I get just one option, namely to close the item.

How can I get this item maximised?

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Dear Win7ers:

I run with the taskbar at the top of the screen. I find it more
useful that way. Some programs do not handle that quite right, and I
have to manually adjust so that the window is properly maximised.

Unfortunately, this does not work with one program. It is the
on-line help for Microsoft Visual FoxPro. Under Windows 7, when I
start the help, it sometimes displays with the titlebar under the
taskbar. When I right-click on the taskbar item for it, I do not get
a full menu as with Windows XP where I can select Maximize. Instead,
I get just one option, namely to close the item.

How can I get this item maximised?

Gene Wirchenko

It's easy enough to set the Taskbar to autohide temporarily and reset
it later. Works for me.

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

On Mon, 19 Nov 2012 19:08:53 -0800, Gene E. Bloch

[snip]

It's easy enough to set the Taskbar to autohide temporarily and reset
it later. Works for me.

That works. I was hoping for something not a kludge, but I will
take what I can get.

It is amazing how many programs do not display quite right when
the taskbar is at the top of the screen. It has been possible to have
the taskbar there since the taskbar was first introduced (in Windows
95). <sigh style=long>

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

On Mon, 19 Nov 2012 19:08:53 -0800, Gene E. Bloch

[snip]

It's easy enough to set the Taskbar to autohide temporarily and reset
it later. Works for me.

That works. I was hoping for something not a kludge, but I will
take what I can get.

It is amazing how many programs do not display quite right when
the taskbar is at the top of the screen. It has been possible to have
the taskbar there since the taskbar was first introduced (in Windows
95). <sigh style=long>

Gene Wirchenko

Or when the taskbar is at the bottom of the screen.

That's where I have it, and the workaround is required here for a
program or two.

 

[Elmo]

On Mon, 19 Nov 2012 19:08:53 -0800, Gene E. Bloch

[snip]

It's easy enough to set the Taskbar to autohide temporarily and reset
it later. Works for me.

That works. I was hoping for something not a kludge, but I will
take what I can get.

It is amazing how many programs do not display quite right when
the taskbar is at the top of the screen. It has been possible to have
the taskbar there since the taskbar was first introduced (in Windows
95). <sigh style=long>

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

Right-click the program on the taskbar, press "X" on the keyboard. Also
try a double-click of the top bar if you can see a portion of it.

 

[charlie]

Dear Win7ers:

I run with the taskbar at the top of the screen. I find it more
useful that way. Some programs do not handle that quite right, and I
have to manually adjust so that the window is properly maximised.

Unfortunately, this does not work with one program. It is the
on-line help for Microsoft Visual FoxPro. Under Windows 7, when I
start the help, it sometimes displays with the titlebar under the
taskbar. When I right-click on the taskbar item for it, I do not get
a full menu as with Windows XP where I can select Maximize. Instead,
I get just one option, namely to close the item.

How can I get this item maximised?

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

Which version of Foxpro? I've had 6 setting on the shelf unused for
years. The project it was bought for was cancelled. I can think of
something I might do with it.

 

[VanguardLH]

Dear Win7ers:

I run with the taskbar at the top of the screen. I find it more
useful that way. Some programs do not handle that quite right, and I
have to manually adjust so that the window is properly maximised.

Unfortunately, this does not work with one program. It is the
on-line help for Microsoft Visual FoxPro. Under Windows 7, when I
start the help, it sometimes displays with the titlebar under the
taskbar. When I right-click on the taskbar item for it, I do not get
a full menu as with Windows XP where I can select Maximize. Instead,
I get just one option, namely to close the item.

How can I get this item maximised?

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

Can you get at the window's control menu (even if it is hidden)? That
is, when the window is active, hit Alt+Spacebar. That should activate
the control menu (upper left-hand corner drop-down menu). Even if
something obliterates that drop-down menu, it may still function using
its keystrokes, which are:

R = Restore window (from minimimzed)
M = Move (use the arrow keys to move around the window, handy if the
window got moved offscreen)
S = Size (use the arrow keys to select an edge, and the arrow keys again
to move that edge left/right or up/down)
N = miNimize
X = maXimize
C = Close

So you hit Alt+Spacebar to activate the control menu and use one of the
above keys to select an action. In your case, to maximize a windows,
you would hit:

Alt+Spacebar+X

Some programs don't check the dimensions of the available screen size to
take into account reserved space for the Windows taskbar. Most seem
oriented to handle the taskbar when it is positioned at the bottom edge
of the screen. When it is moved to the left or right side or to the
top, the program's windowing management doesn't take that reserved area
into account. That is usually a problem with windowing management when
the window is less than full screen sized; i.e., when the window's size
is adjustable. When maximizing, the windowing is handled okay because
Windows reports the usable area instead of the program trying to figure
it out. Even some Microsoft products are screwed up this way, like:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/138730 (MS Word)

Since many programs still don't handle windowing (size) correctly when
the Windows taskbar is anywhere other than at the bottom edge of the
screen, setting the AutoHide option on (enabled) resolves that problem
but not everyone wants the taskbar to automatic hide when it doesn't
have focus. You have to use the taskbar at the bottom, use auto-hide in
the taskbar, use the control menu to maximize the window, or get a later
version of the sizing-ignorant program, if available.

You never identified which version of FoxPro you have (nor which edition
of Windows 7 but that happens not to be relevant, in this case). As it
happens, all versions of FoxPro are no longer supported. Mainstream
supported ended back on 1-Jan-2010 for FoxPro 9 and all prior versions
died earlier.

FoxPro 6: http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=3017
FoxPro 7: http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=3018
FoxPro 8: http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=3019
FoxPro 9: http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=7992

While extended support may still be viable, it isn't cheap. There's no
point in waiting for a later version of FoxPro after 9 hoping they
resolved the screen sizing problem regarding the Windows taskbar
positioning. Version 9.0 was released in Dec 2004 with Service Pack 2
released back in Sep 2007 and that is and will continue to be the last
version of that product. Microsoft dropped that product. If you have a
version before 9, a later version might address your problem. No
guarantees, however, so only upgrade to obtain other functional changes
or improvements without any expectaction the sizing problem specifically
got fixed.

You are asking how to get a product whose last version (major version,
not a service pack) was released back in 2004. Windows Vista didn't
show up for another 2 years so obviously Windows 7 was even later. You
are trying to run a program under an OS for which is was not tested for
compatibility. Yes, many programs, even dead ones, continue to run okay
but they exhibit artifacts in behavior, like you noticed. Since FoxPro
is dead, you're stuck using workarounds for behaviors in the program
that will not be fixed.

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

[snip]

Right-click the program on the taskbar, press "X" on the keyboard. Also

That did not do anything.

try a double-click of the top bar if you can see a portion of it.

The problem is when I can not see the titlebar.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

[snip]

Which version of Foxpro? I've had 6 setting on the shelf unused for
years. The project it was bought for was cancelled. I can think of
something I might do with it.

9.

You sure could. I maintain a client billing system written in
it.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

[snip]

Can you get at the window's control menu (even if it is hidden)? That
is, when the window is active, hit Alt+Spacebar. That should activate

Yes. That works. I never knew that key combo. (GUIs are just
so intuitive. <cough>)

[snip]

Some programs don't check the dimensions of the available screen size to
take into account reserved space for the Windows taskbar. Most seem
oriented to handle the taskbar when it is positioned at the bottom edge
of the screen. When it is moved to the left or right side or to the
Quite.

[snip]

Since many programs still don't handle windowing (size) correctly when
the Windows taskbar is anywhere other than at the bottom edge of the
screen, setting the AutoHide option on (enabled) resolves that problem
but not everyone wants the taskbar to automatic hide when it doesn't
have focus. You have to use the taskbar at the bottom, use auto-hide in

Quite. I usually have several programs open at once and often
flip between them quickly. I do not like taskbar hide-and-seek.

[snip]

You are asking how to get a product whose last version (major version,
not a service pack) was released back in 2004. Windows Vista didn't

No, I am not. I already have it. I am asking how to deal with a
glitch.

show up for another 2 years so obviously Windows 7 was even later. You
are trying to run a program under an OS for which is was not tested for
compatibility. Yes, many programs, even dead ones, continue to run okay
but they exhibit artifacts in behavior, like you noticed. Since FoxPro

It is Windows that is exhibiting the behaviour.

is dead, you're stuck using workarounds for behaviors in the program
that will not be fixed.

I asked because VFP is the program that I have seen the behaviour
with. There could be more later.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[VanguardLH]

No, I am not. I already have it. I am asking how to deal with a
glitch.

What does "having it" do with anything regarding when a product was
released (other than it had to be released before you could have it)?
Regardless of when you got the product, which could've been 2 minutes
before posting, that product's last *release* was back in 2004.

It is Windows that is exhibiting the behaviour.

Nope, it's the program setting the sizing attribute on its window
object.

http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/obj_window.asp
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ie/ms535873(v=vs.85).aspx

 

[Sam Hill]

Nope, it's the program setting the sizing attribute on its window
object.

http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/obj_window.asp
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ie/ms535873(v=vs.85).aspx

Visual FoxPro does not use browser windows, so those references are
meaningless.

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

What does "having it" do with anything regarding when a product was
released (other than it had to be released before you could have it)?

I was not asking about how to get a product. You wrote that.

Regardless of when you got the product, which could've been 2 minutes
before posting, that product's last *release* was back in 2004.

So? I was born 1960 myself. What of it?

Nope, it's the program setting the sizing attribute on its window
object.

The behaviour changes under different versions of Windows. That
makes Windows the most-likely culprit.

[snip]

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[VanguardLH]

Visual FoxPro does not use browser windows, so those references are
meaningless.

I didn't realize you thought Javascript was created in a vacuum.
Object-oriented Javascript syntax and functions follow those found in
the C++ programming language. Netscape wanted something that would
complement Java but be a lightweight *interpreted* language that would
appeal to less than well-seasoned professional programmers.

Here you have the definition of the window object and its attributes
used in the Java programming language - and that code is interpreted by
the Java interpreter you install completely separately of your web
browser. In fact, you can have Java programs that execute by running
"java.exe <parms>" and which are ran completely OUTSIDE any web browser.

http://www.leepoint.net/notes-java/GUI/containers/10windows/15framesize.html
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/1.4.2/docs/api/java/awt/Dimension.html

..Net has its window object (please don't bother arguing against .Net
since it's just another programming framework), as in:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.window.aspx

If you want to see the C++ syntax, click on that tab. The Component
Object Model (COM) was introduced by Microsoft back in 1993 (only a year
after Mosaic showed up and a year before Netscape appeared). I remember
way back when programmers used MFC (Microsoft Foundation Class)
libraries to define objects. While a C++ window object was separate
from the corresponding HWND (Windows window), they were interdependent.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa295340(v=vs.60).aspx

MFC was something of a bear to figure out. I remember the programmers
having a huge library of MFC books that they'd use to look up classes,
objects, attributes (properties), methods (functions), and so on and why
a lot of IDEs came out where you could start entering a class or object
definition and then easily and quickly get a popup showing syntax,
properties, or methods available.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/b5wzwdk7(v=vs.80).aspx

That one shows the window sizing and positioning attributes for the MFC
CWND class. You'll want to look at the Set methods on windows sizing
and position. Good luck with that. I prefer using an IDE that
encapsulates all that knowledge and let it tell me what is available.

 

[VanguardLH]

My bad. Even though I reviewed my post before submission, often your
eyes will see what they expect to see.

You are asking how to get a product whose last version (major version,
not a service pack) was released back in 2004.

"Get" was the wrong word. Should've been "fix or alter the behavior of"
a product whose last release was before the release of the operating
systems in which you are attempting to use that product. So while you
are experiencing a glitch in a product that will never have another new
release, the only solutions that I can think of are workarounds.

Besides using the key combo to maximize the window (so it maximizes
inside the screen area outside the taskbar area), another option might
be to use AutoIt to detect when that window opens and run a script to do
the key combo for you automatically. You'd use AutoIt to force that
program's window so it was always maximized. Of course, you could
define the shortcut used to load FoxPro so that its window starts out
maximized, too.

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

My bad. Even though I reviewed my post before submission, often your
eyes will see what they expect to see.

You are asking how to get a product whose last version (major version,
not a service pack) was released back in 2004.

"Get" was the wrong word. Should've been "fix or alter the behavior of"
a product whose last release was before the release of the operating
systems in which you are attempting to use that product. So while you
are experiencing a glitch in a product that will never have another new
release, the only solutions that I can think of are workarounds.

That is fine.

Besides using the key combo to maximize the window (so it maximizes
inside the screen area outside the taskbar area), another option might
be to use AutoIt to detect when that window opens and run a script to do
the key combo for you automatically. You'd use AutoIt to force that
program's window so it was always maximized. Of course, you could
define the shortcut used to load FoxPro so that its window starts out
maximized, too.

That would be a good suggestion if it were VFP that was
misbehaving. It is VFP's on-line help that is acting weird. I start
it with <F1> inside VFP.

I wish Microsoft would consider backwards compatibility really
important. I am also wrestling with getting some 16-bit programs
running under Windows 7. Virtual Windows XP does the trick for my
Windows 7 Professional desktop system, but not my Windows 7 Home
Premium laptop. (How is a limited product "Premium"?) I have found a
hack on the Web for getting it to run. I hope it works. I do not
think that I should have to jump through hoops to have my programs
continue to run reasonably.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[VanguardLH]

That would be a good suggestion if it were VFP that was misbehaving.
It is VFP's on-line help that is acting weird. I start it with <F1>
inside VFP.

If the titlebar has a title that can be recognized, I still think you
could use AutoIt to detect that window to then maximize it. I haven't
use AutoIt (or AutoHotkey) for a long time. The folks over at
http://www.autoitscript.com/forum/ might know.

I wish Microsoft would consider backwards compatibility really
important. I am also wrestling with getting some 16-bit programs
running under Windows 7. Virtual Windows XP does the trick for my
Windows 7 Professional desktop system, but not my Windows 7 Home
Premium laptop. (How is a limited product "Premium"?) I have found
a hack on the Web for getting it to run. I hope it works. I do not
think that I should have to jump through hoops to have my programs
continue to run reasonably.

While I've touched on using XP Mode in Windows 7, I stuck with VirtualPC
2007 on one host and VirtualBox on another. I had VMWare Server on a
host but they dropped support for Server and went to Player but I
haven't bothered to try Player. There are times, however, that no VMM
(virtual machine manager) running a guest OS inside a virtual machine is
going to do what I want. Forget playing video games in a VM. That's
why I use multi-booting (not Microsoft's dual-boot scheme) to choose an
OS to load on booting the host with each host in a separate partition to
load it from there (see gag.sourceforge.net). However, that has the
nuisance that you have to reboot the host to get into the other full OS.


As for continuing to get your programs to run, well, that pretty much
dictates that you stick with the old OS under which those apps run well.
Changing an OS just because it's new is never a sufficient reason to
change to the new OS. Yeah, I know that most consumers have been
captured by the "newer is better" marketing mantra and worry about
support being lost on the older stuff (but for which they never did have
good support, anyway). If any apps are critical or important then they
should warrant being ran under an OS where they work, and that means NOT
moving to a new OS just because it shows up. I know several companies
that have mission critical apps that have to remain back on older
versions of Windows. Hell, many cash registers at retail stores are
still running Windows 98. I have an old host kept around because it
runs and old OS under which old games runs best using an old version of
the video driver (since a new version causes the games to crash).

Newer isn't necessarily better. It's just different.