wrong windows placement in expo mode

[Andrey Gelman]

Possibly this is not an implementation bug, but rather a conceptual one.
However, bug is a bug. And bugs are better off fixed.

Let's say you have a few gnome-terminals ...
Press gnome-terminal icon on the Unity bar - expo mode will be activated - all the gnome-terminal windows are zoomed out and exposed in some order.

Now, the algorithm that determines this order is problematic to say the less.

Let's say you pick one of gnome-terminal windows in the expo mode. It goes to the top of window pile. Let's say after examining it from the close you understand that this one is the wrong one. Once again you go to the expo mode ...
However, now the order of windows in expo mode has changed as it depends on their placement in normal mode, and the window we've just examined was moved to top (i.e. changed its normal placement).
Many a time I find myself switching between 2 windows trying, actually, to hunt the 3-rd one.

What should be done is that in expo mode, the placement of zoomed out windows must be constant, determined, let's say, by each application's PID, as it expresses time dimension (or just order of window invocation).

Actually, there are 2 expo modes: on per application basis, and global.
All the said above is valid for both.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: unity 4.24.0-0ubuntu2.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-14.23-generic 3.0.9
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-14-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,compiztoolbox,decor,grid,mousepoll,regex,vpswitch,snap,gnomecompat,place,wall,move,resize,imgpng,animation,expo,session,workarounds,ezoom,staticswitcher,fade,scale,unityshell]
Date: Tue Jan 17 17:02:51 2012
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release amd64 (20111011)
SourcePackage: unity
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Bilal Akhtar (bilalakhtar)]

The scale mode sorts windows in a way to prioritize recently-accessed windows and keep the stagnant ones at the end. It is consistent with the Alt+Tab behavior. Your idea would break that design.

I'm quite sure designers aren't likely to approve this one, but still I'd give it a go.

[Andrey Gelman (andrey-gelman)]

I understand, that my idea would break some design.
What I say is that this design is bogus !
Even on a 20 inch screen one cannot clearly see windows' contents in the
scale mode. Thus one must zoom in each window in turn, until he runs
into the right one. Now imagine their relative order changes all the time !
Sometimes I wonder if people who designed it intended to use it themselves.

By the way, that's what was so convenient in the old school Gnome 2 -
each icon in the bottom panel had its constant place, so that you could
remember that 'this icon' is 'document X' and 'that icon' is 'document
Y', now they are rotating like some dancers.

Please deliver this idea to the developers.

On 01/19/2012 02:57 AM, Bilal Akhtar wrote:
> The scale mode sorts windows in a way to prioritize recently-accessed
> windows and keep the stagnant ones at the end. It is consistent with the
> Alt+Tab behavior. Your idea would break that design.
>
> I'm quite sure designers aren't likely to approve this one, but still
> I'd give it a go.
>
> ** Tags added: needs-design
>
> ** Changed in: unity (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Incomplete
>
> ** Also affects: unity
> Importance: Undecided
> Status: New
>
> ** Also affects: ayatana-design
> Importance: Undecided
> Status: New
>
> ** Changed in: unity
> Status: New => Incomplete
>

[dino99 (9d9)]

no one seems to "give it a go", so closing it (Oneiric is EOL now)