how to save frame position in Emacs? - emacs

When I'm using Emacs, I sometimes connect my MacBook to an external monitor. I then create a new, second frame, which I drag to the external monitor and then maximize.
The result is that within Emacs, I have two maximized frames, one on my laptop display and one on my external monitor.
I'd like to save this configuration so I don't have to do this manually each time. Ideally I could restore the frame positions with one keystroke every time I connect my external monitor.
How do I do this? I use Aquamacs on OSX.

Try the development version of Emacs 24. Juanma Barranquero is currently implementing frame restoration for Emacs desktops. The code is still changing, but a recent build should give you something that is of use for what you want to do.

Since Emacs 24 you can use desktop-save-mode Session management

Related

How to have an emacs function called when display size changes?

I'm trying to define an emacs function that will be called when the display size changes, currently I'm not finding any hooks that I can use for this.
I an NOT trying to notice when the emacs window changes size.
My use case is that I have emacs open on my laptop, then I close it and bring it to work and plug it into a bigger monitor and turn it on via the keyboard. After logging in my windows are all in the top left corner.
I want emacs to notice the screen size change and call my function allow me to reposition the window and change the font size.
yes, I know about stay but I also want to change the font size.
I'm running emacs 24.3.1 from emacsformacosx.com under OSX Mavericks
AFAIK, Emacs currently does not catch such screen-size-change events, and even if it does internally, it doesn't expose this in any way to ELisp. So your two best bets might be:
Use a timer that checks the screen size to detect change.
Ask for the feature via M-x report-emacs-bug.

How to turn off *input/output* buffer in gud

I recently switched to using GNU Emacs 24 from 23, and I notice that whenever I enter gud the *input/output* buffer is open. I have close it manually with C-x 0 everytime I debug. Can anyone point me to the correct variable which needs to be configured in order to stop displaying this buffer by default?
There is a 'gud-gdb' in new emacs releases that implement the old behavior of gdb/emacs interaction (no dedicated-windows and no I/O buffer). If you don't want to call M-x gud-gdb when you use it you can define an alias for M-x gdb
I have this problem as well. After a quick look at the source code, the problem appears to be that GUD dedicates most of its windows (that is, it calls set-window-dedicated-p on them). A dedicated window is one that cannot be switched away from. I guess more and more young guns are using GUD in many windows mode and want GUD to manage their window layout, and those of us that like to do that manually are in the minority. There doesn't seem to be anything obvious in gdb-mi.el that disables this behavior (for example, gdb-set-window-buffer seems to always do a set-window-dedicated-p to t for all windows it manages).
For now, this solution is more or less the one I'm using -- I manually deactivate the window dedication. This seems suboptimal, though. There ought to be some way to get GUD to let you manually manage the window layout. This question is related.
You can disable window dedication altogether like this: (in Emacs 24.4+)
(defun set-window-undedicated-p (window flag)
"Never set window dedicated."
flag)
(advice-add 'set-window-dedicated-p :override #'set-window-undedicated-p)
Note that this doesn't affect already dedicated windows.

Is it possible to restore previously open frames in emacs after full screening (ESC) one of them?

I am using emacs and usually have multiple buffers open using horizontal and vertical splits. Sometimes I need to view one of the buffers in full screen and press ESC for that. However is it possible to restore the previous screen placement ? ie if I had 4 frames open, then can I restore them back ?
http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/WinnerMode
^ is the best
C-c left to restore previous window placement
You can use window-configuration-to-register or frame-configuration-to-register to save the window and frame configurations to a register and restore them. You can use this along with a little elisp to give you the functionality you need.
I have some more details about how to use registers posted in this screencast.

emacs gud window use

How do I customize which window GUD will use when i issue commands - 'up', 'down', etc ? It seems to use an arbitrary window, sometimes even the window with gdb in it - I want to be able to specify a specific window to be used.
Have you considered borrowing the key bindings mentioned in the following question?
Emacs, switch to previous window
This question implies that GUD steps on some things if you don't add a parameter. Maybe your command bindings are being affected similiarly.
Using gdb in Emacs 23
I asked a buddy of mine about this issue and here is what he said.
Well, we used xemacs and so it's not exactly apples to apples here. I
do have gnu-emacs installed on cygwin and I can't replicate his
problem. I think he definitely needs to list a version # for emacs
and the version # for all his installed packages.
When you press up/down it calls 'previous-line' and 'next-line'
respectively which both move the cursor in the default buffer. The
only thing I can think is that he has something running that switches
buffers (lisp 'set-buffer') temporarily and maybe doesn't set it back
or errors b/f restoring the buffer? Better to use
'with-current-buffer' (or one of the other with-* forms) that saves
the current state of the ui runs your lisp code and restores the ui
state.

What determines the monitor my app runs on?

I am using Windows, and I have two monitors.
Some applications will always start on my primary monitor, no matter where they were when I closed them.
Others will always start on the secondary monitor, no matter where they were when I closed them.
Is there a registry setting buried somewhere, which I can manipulate to control which monitor applications launch into by default?
#rp: I have Ultramon, and I agree that it is indispensable, to the point that Microsoft should buy it and incorporate it into their OS. But as you said, it doesn't let you control the default monitor a program launches into.
Here's what I've found. If you want an app to open on your secondary monitor by default do the following:
1. Open the application.
2. Re-size the window so that it is not maximized or minimized.
3. Move the window to the monitor you want it to open on by default.
4. Close the application. Do not re-size prior to closing.
5. Open the application.
It should open on the monitor you just moved it to and closed it on.
6. Maximize the window.
The application will now open on this monitor by default. If you want to change it to another monitor, just follow steps 1-6 again.
Correctly written Windows apps that want to save their location from run to run will save the results of GetWindowPlacement() before shutting down, then use SetWindowPlacement() on startup to restore their position.
Frequently, apps will store the results of GetWindowPlacement() in the registry as a REG_BINARY for easy use.
The WINDOWPLACEMENTroute has many advantages over other methods:
Handles the case where the screen resolution changed since the last run: SetWindowPlacement() will automatically ensure that the window is not entirely offscreen
Saves the state (minimized/maximized) but also saves the restored (normal) size and position
Handles desktop metrics correctly, compensating for the taskbar position, etc. (i.e. uses "workspace coordinates" instead of "screen coordinates" -- techniques that rely on saving screen coordinates may suffer from the "walking windows" problem where a window will always appear a little lower each time if the user has a toolbar at the top of the screen).
Finally, programs that handle window restoration properly will take into account the nCmdShow parameter passed in from the shell. This parameter is set in the shortcut that launches the application (Normal, Minimized, Maximize):
if(nCmdShow != SW_SHOWNORMAL)
placement.showCmd = nCmdShow; //allow shortcut to override
For non-Win32 applications, it's important to be sure that the method you're using to save/restore window position eventually uses the same underlying call, otherwise (like Java Swing's setBounds()/getBounds() problem) you'll end up writing a lot of extra code to re-implement functionality that's already there in the WINDOWPLACEMENT functions.
It's not exactly the answer to this question but I dealt with this problem with the Shift + Win + [left,right] arrow keys shortcut. You can move the currently active window to another monitor with it.
Get UltraMon. Quickly.
http://realtimesoft.com/ultramon/
It doesn't let you specify what monitor an app starts on, but it lets you move an app to the another monitor, and keep its aspect ratio intact, with one mouse click. It is a very handy utility.
Most programs will start where you last left them. So if you have two monitors at work, but only one at home, it's possible to start you laptop at home and not see the apps running on the other monitor (which now isn't there). UltrMon also lets you move those orphan apps back to the main screen quickly and easily.
I'm fairly sure the primary monitor is the default. If the app was coded decently, when it's closed, it'll remember where it was last at and will reopen there, but -- as you've noticed -- it isn't a default behavior.
EDIT: The way I usually do it is to have the location stored in the app's settings. On load, if there is no value for them, it defaults to the center of the screen. On closing of the form, it records its position. That way, whenever it opens, it's where it was last. I don't know of a simple way to tell it to launch onto the second monitor the first time automatically, however.
-- Kevin Fairchild
Important note: If you remember the position of your application and shutdown and then start up again at that position, keep in mind that the user's monitor configuration may have changed while your application was closed.
Laptop users, for example, frequently change their display configuration. When docked there may be a 2nd monitor that disappears when undocked. If the user closes an application that was running on the 2nd monitor and the re-opens the application when the monitor is disconnected, restoring the window to the previous coordinates will leave it completely off-screen.
To figure out how big the display really is, check out GetSystemMetrics.
So I had this issue with Adobe Reader 9.0. Somehow the program forgot to open on my right monitor and was consistently opening on my left monitor. Most programs allow you to drag it over, maximize the screen, and then close it out and it will remember. Well, with Adobe, I had to drag it over and then close it before maximizing it, in order for Windows to remember which screen to open it in next time. Once you set it to the correct monitor, then you can maximize it. I think this is stupid, since almost all windows programs remember it automatically without try to rig a way for XP to remember.
So I agree there are some apps that you can configured to open on one screen by maximizing or right clicking and moving/sizing screen, then close and reopen. However, there are others that will only open on the main screen.
What I've done to resolve: set the monitor you prefer stubborn apps to open on, as monitor 1 and the your other monitor as 2, then change your monitor 2 to be the primary - so your desktop settings and start bar remain. Hope this helps.
Do not hold me to this but I am pretty sure it depends on the application it self. I know many always open on the main monitor, some will reopen to the same monitor they were previously run in, and some you can set. I know for example I have shortcuts to open command windows to particular directories, and each has an option in their properties to the location to open the window in. While Outlook just remembers and opens in the last screen it was open in. Then other apps open in what ever window the current focus is in.
So I am not sure there is a way to tell every program where to open. Hope that helps some.
I've noticed that if I put a shortcut on my desktop on one screen the launched application may appear on that screen (if that app doesn't reposition itself).
This also applies to running things from Windows Explorer - if Explorer is on one screen the launched application will pick that monitor to use.
Again - I think this is when the launching application specifies the default (windows managed) position. Most applications seem to override this default behavior in some way.
A simple window created like so will do this:
hWnd = CreateWindow(windowClass, windowTitle, WS_VISIBLE | WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW, CW_USEDEFAULT, SW_SHOW, CW_USEDEFAULT, 0, NULL, NULL, hInst, NULL);
Right click the shortcut and select properties.
Make sure you are on the "Shortcut" Tab.
Select the RUN drop down box and change it to Maximized.
This may assist in launching the program in full screen on the primary monitor.