Annoying behavior, which must have a simple fix.

[TheBori]

Unlike 1.2.x, when I undock the control bar (play, record, stop, etc) it does not remain "on top", that is to say, other windows with the focus cover the bar. s a result I have to layer my windows (Auacity, script, etc) offset to allow access to the bar. Of course, when I do pause, the Audacity windows pops to eh front.

The undocked control bar in 1.2 always remained on top. I can't seem to find where to set (or correct) this in 1.3. It MUST be a simple fix..but I'm and idiot.

Thanks.

[steve]

In Audacity 1.3.x the positioning of the toolbars has been made more flexible than it was in 1.2.x so that they can be positioned more conveniently within the main window. Any of the toolbars can be positioned at either the top or bottom of the main window in any order so it should not be necessary to leave them floating. Toolbars that you do not want can be conveniently removed by deselecting them in "View > Toolbars > "

[TheBori]

Thanks Steve...I understand about the undocking, etc. The problem I'm having is with the undocked bar staing on top (or not). I realize I can tuck it in a corner, etc. but if I want to have a full screen to view my script, I'd like to have the toolbar on top. The previous release (1.2.x) had an option to keep the undocked toolbar "always on top". Does 1.3 have this capability?

[steve]

Hmm, that's odd.
My usual operating system is Linux (Debian) and the undocked control bar stays on top of the main window.

I thought it might be different on Windows so I've just tested on Windows XP with Audacity 1.3.12 and 1.3.13 and the undocked control bar stays on top there also.

Which exact version of Audacity are you using?
Which version of Windows?.
What exactly do you mean by "script"?

[kozikowski]

OIC what the problem is. When I undock the pushbuttons panel, it stays on top of Audacity, but gets covered up by everything else. It's not global float to the top.

Koz

[TheBori]

Exactly! The script is a Word doc I am narrating. I would dearly like to have the Word doc on full screen, with just the Transport bar floating on tiop. Instead I need to have both Audacity and my doc partially minimized so I can click back and forth. Not the end of the world, just annoying...and a step back from ver 1.2.x.

[steve]

AhHa, I see what you mean.
I've never noticed the issue before as I'm on Linux and I can just push the main Audacity window onto another Desktop and keep just the toolbar(s) on the original Desktop, but it looks like Windows still has only one Desktop.

I've not tried it, but I've several third-party application for Windows to create multiple Desktops. This one has good reviews and is open source (Apache License 2.0): http://code.google.com/p/mdesktop/

[Edgar]

In 1.2.6 the Toolbars were derived from wxWindow class:
class ToolBar:public wxWindow
and it ended up in a ToolBarFullFrame which was based on a wxFrame:

Code: Select all

ToolBarFullFrame::ToolBarFullFrame([...])
: wxFrame([... only FLAGS shown:]
wxSTAY_ON_TOP | wxMINIMIZE_BOX | wxCAPTION
| wxRESIZE_BORDER
| ((parent == NULL)?0x0:wxFRAME_FLOAT_ON_PARENT))

which gets "wxSTAY_ON_TOP" as one flag among:

Code: Select all

wxSTAY_ON_TOP | wxMINIMIZE_BOX | wxCAPTION
| wxRESIZE_BORDER| ((parent == NULL)?0x0:wxFRAME_FLOAT_ON_PARENT

in 1.3.14:
class ToolBar:public wxPanel
derives from wxPanel which uses a Create() function:

Code: Select all

wxPanel::Create( [...]
class ToolFrame:public wxFrame

and it ends up in a ToolFrame which is based on a wxFrame:

Code: Select all

ToolFrame( [...] )
: wxFrame( [... again, only flags shown:]
wxNO_BORDER |wxFRAME_NO_TASKBAR |
wxFRAME_TOOL_WINDOW |
wxFRAME_FLOAT_ON_PARENT )

Simply changing the last line:
wxFRAME_FLOAT_ON_PARENT )
to:
wxSTAY_ON_TOP )

gives you the desired result. If the Audacity Developers were not dead set against adding more preferences I would suggest adding a Preference switch to toggle this behavior. As it is, if you want that behavior you will have to compile Audacity yourself. If you need help compiling Audacity we can help!

[kozikowski]

If you need help compiling Audacity we can help!

Actually, I could use that for the last step here:

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/over ... bbing.html

The current link goes to a page that Google hit.

Koz

[TheBori]

Edgar,
Thanks for the history and the look into the code. So much for the "simple fix". I would like to try your proposed change, if it's not too difficult. I've been known to get into the registry, etc. But not the innards of Audacity. If you can walk me through it...