Build Info:
Date: Mar 14 2024 15:11:40
wxWidgets: 3.2.2 (wchar_t,wx containers) GTK+ 3.24
Boost: 1.74.0
OCC: 7.6.3
Curl: 8.2.1
ngspice: 42
Compiler: GCC 13.2.0 with C++ ABI 1018
Almost every dialog window, like the “Choose symbol”, etc… can be manually resized using the bottom-right corner. But the maximize button does not work: it does nothing at all. Even double-clicking on the title bar or drag the window to the screen top edge (Ubuntu highlights the whole screen to suggest maximization) don’t work.
Since it is there, it means it should work. If the developers had chosen not to allow window maximization they would have hidden the button.
Is it a bug or is there anything wrong in my system?
for windows (Win10): many dialogs don’t show a “maximize button”. For instance:
choose symbol (from “add symbol” command)
Edit reference field (doubleclick a reference)
Edit Value field (doubleclick a Value string)
ERC dialog
Annotate schematic dialog
It seems these dialogs are designed without “maximize” option.
Now we have to wait for another Ubuntu user who confirms your behaviour as a bug. Or denies the behaviour, so you should look on a setting inside your system.
to be complete: dialogs with “maximize” icon are working and really allow to maximize the dialog. Valid for instance for:
Ubuntu 22.04 has no “maximize” icon in any of the dialogs, also not in these you mentioned working for windows. Which is quite a bit annoying for things like the net inspector or any other table based dialog.
This is a full screen view of Ubuntu 22.04.1 on Linux Mint.
The only "maximize: button is the one highlighted with the magenta arrow.
Using this button toggles Kicad between full screen and the smaller view shown in the screen grab.
I can confirm this behavior, and it has been a small annoyance for me too for a long time. For example, when opening: Schematic Editor / Preferences / Manage Symbol Libraries …, it would be easier to press F11 (Standard button to maximize a window) compared to using the mouse to make the window bigger or scroll though a long list in a small window.
Application: KiCad Schematic Editor x86_64 on x86_64
Version: 8.0.1-8.0.1-0~ubuntu20.04.1, release build
Libraries:
wxWidgets 3.2.2
FreeType 2.10.1
HarfBuzz 2.6.4
FontConfig 2.13.1
libcurl/7.68.0 OpenSSL/1.1.1f zlib/1.2.11 brotli/1.0.7 libidn2/2.2.0 libpsl/0.21.0 (+libidn2/2.2.0) libssh/0.9.3/openssl/zlib nghttp2/1.40.0 librtmp/2.3
Platform: Linux Mint 20.3, 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK, X11, xfce, x11
Build Info:
Date: Mar 14 2024 15:11:44
wxWidgets: 3.2.1 (wchar_t,wx containers) GTK+ 3.24
Boost: 1.71.0
OCC: 7.6.3
Curl: 7.68.0
ngspice: 42
Compiler: GCC 9.4.0 with C++ ABI 1013
Build settings:
Looks like a GUI-bug in the ubuntu (linux general?) version, at least for the dialogs which show a “maximize” button on windows. If one opens a gitlab issue I may provide a summary regarding the maximize icon in dialogs on the windows version (as comparison).
@paulvdh : the Preferences–>Manage symbol/footprint libraries seems designed without maximize button (at least it also shows no maximize button on windows).
I don’t have this problem.
My “minimize” works correctly.
If you check my screen grab above, you will notice the No.2 on my Ki logo in the bottom LH corner.
The two minimized are "test6.kicad_pro and “test6-PCB Editor”. If I minimize the displayed page on the screen grab, the Ki logo will display the number 3 and will minimize “test6-Schematic Editor”.
The “modal” pop-up dialogs (the ones that block access to the parent window while they are open) are supposed to only have a close button, not a minimize or maximize button. If the OS is falsely drawing a maximize button, it would explain why it doesn’t work in KiCad.
Yes, I know. And as I interpret Andrea_Simeoni’s (OP’s) post. That is exactly what she means. Note she mentioned the dialog Windows in the title of this thread. JMK goes of in pointing out the maiximize button in one of the main programs, but I (and I assume OP) have never had a problem with those.
And in this way there are quite a lot of dialog / sub windows that do not have a maximize button, but would benefit from it. Take for example: Symbol Editor / Edit / Pin Table.
Maybe it’s a good idea to create a list of which windows should have a maximize button, and create an issue for it on gitlab.
Modal dialogs will in general never have a maximize (or minimize) button. That violates convention on every operating system. Windows that have maximize buttons are not dialogs, in other words.
So, I would suggest if you create issues, talk about the actual “why” behind the request.
“I want a maximize button on all dialogs” is not going to happen, but “I find Dialog X hard to use because it is too small” is more actionable. That way we can explore all kinds of options for making Dialog X easier to use.
The normal File Open dialog has a maximize button, (or at least maximize functionality with F11). In my view, any window that has more info then fits in it (by default) would benefit from a maximize button. The Edit Pin Table is a good example. Especially with large symbols, the table can be quite big.
Anyone interested in making a list of such dialogs / windows? I’m not sure what would be the best approach here for gitlab. Create one issue per window, or create one issue with a list of windows and then see which would pass arbitrage.
As I said, I dont’ think an issue saying “add maximize buttons to all these dialogs” is going to go anywhere. It’s not even possible to do on all platforms, because modal dialogs aren’t supposed to have maximize buttons.
“File open” dialogs have always had maximize buttons (and functionality), even when I was using windows a long time ago. For such windows with long lists of files hitting F11 is quicker then manually resizing and/or scrolling though a list.
Meh, changing the sort of window for a particular dialog is probably also just a few lines of code. (but requires testing, maybe changing some other things too).
Modal dialogs, by convention, cannot be minimized or maximized on macOS, Windows, and most Linux systems. Sometimes they can be resized by dragging the edge, but this is not a requirement.
