Help and problems with movable window components

• Mar 31, 2021 - 08:28

An outcome of a parallel discussion on multiple versions of MS is that I discovered that I don't actually know how to re-Dock a component (what are they called?) such as the Mixer, Timeline etc. once I've unlocked it and moved it on my screen. I can clearly close any such element, then I guess reopen, but how can I easily re-Dock such floating "elements"?

One other thing I noticed is that in MacOS with 3.6.2 most of the floating elements behave reasonably, and can be made active and visible by clicking on them (at least on the top bar. If such elements are dragged around the one being dragged will nearly always go on top of all similar floating elements.

However a floating copy of the Master Palette will always go under any movable floating element. Is this deliberate, or a bug? If deliberate, please explain.


Comments

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

Thanks - though that's not consistent across all "elements". What do you call these floating things?

I'm not sure about the dragging into place option - I've not been able to do that reliably.

The Navigator, the Synthesiser and the Master Pallette expand to fill the screen - I think - I'm still checking.
A further complication is that in MacOS these might then disappear into the MacOS Dock if minimised.

In reply to by dave2020X

As terms go "dockable window" would help different these from "dialog boxes", which are also "floating things". Technically, the synthesizer and master palette are neither, though, so, "non-dockable windows" I guess.

Anyhow, dragging should works but as with drag&drop from the palette, it's all about exactly where you drop. There is a specific docking zone that highlights when you reach it and you must be in that state in order to dock. But also, windows can be docked in different ways - depending on where you dock they can share the pane vertical (like Palettes and Selection Filter do by default, also I think the Inspector and Play Panel), but you can also drag them on top of each other to create tabbed panels.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Not only a MuseScore problem, but some form of "dockable window manager" might be helpful - at least in MacOS. Several times recently, particularly while trying to do Zoom meetings, windows have become submerged under other "windows" on top, and then they become very difficult to find. In a live meeting this can be really problematic. Having a known location where all the windows assocated with each program could be tracked and brought to the front or relocated would be very helpful. So while undockable components can be great for keeping the most important interfaces visible, they can also get lost, and a quick and effective means to recover them would be very useful.

In reply to by bobjp

Space and other factors mitigate against this. Effectively having a second monitor "just" creates an even bigger window where things can still go wrong, but yes - indeed - it would be possible to drag some window components off the main screen to a subsidiarly one where at least they would still be visible. It is possible to use iPads as second screens, and also TVs linked with hardware devices such as as Apple TV uits, as well of course as additional monitors. I have had three screens linked that way, but not in the current room which is space restricted. Also extra monitors cost more!

Sometimes application windows disappear without any very obvious reasons, and they can be hard to locate again if there are many fragments on the main screen.

Apple seem to have fairly consistently first allowed extra machines to function as second monitors, but then actually made it impossible, as the machines typically have to be of the same generation with the same hardware interfaces etc.

From an application developer's point of view it's debatable whether applications should control their own movable window panels, or that should be done within the OS. Perhaps OS developers should provide a sort ot panic overview which could list all the components, together with which application they are running in - and then when things don't work out well - which is more likely with trying to handle screens when running online sessions - such as Zoom - one could see quickly which applications have visible layers, which are off screen etc.

If OS developers aren't going to do this in a hurry, then it could be helpful if some application developers did this with their own programs.

In reply to by bobjp

You can also use a USB input to another device, but the video won't be fast. The latest versions of MacOS can send second screens to iPads, and there are also apps which can do that too. Depends on the application whether it's worth trying. Anything with fast moving video needs to be on the main monitor, but the extras can be used for feedback and control monitoring - as long as a fast interaction time is not a requirement.

I don't know the Zoom online system will cope with using main monitor + iPad (for example). As far as MacOS is concerned as I recall there's just one very large monitor and windows can be dragged in and out, and part a window can be on one display, with the rest on the other.

If Zoom can present only part of a display, then that can be set up to function with several monitors and MacOS.

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