Don't store window size in bazaar.conf

[Daniel Clemente]

I'm tracking my configuration (all my ~ directory) in a Bazaar branch, and I'm always finding that the Bazaar configuration changes too much due to changes like:

--- a/.bazaar/bazaar.conf
+++ b/.bazaar/bazaar.conf
-viz-graph-size = 1438x312
-viz-revisionview-size = 340x486
-viz-window-size = 1438x866
+viz-graph-size = 1312x312
+viz-revisionview-size = 340x484
+viz-window-size = 1312x864

This changes again after I open „bzr vis“.

I think that bzr-gtk should not store this in bazaar.conf since
1) this file is mainly written by the user.
2) It makes the configuration change too much.
3) The user didn't ask to store this information.

I would prefer other options:
- Read those options if they exist, update them when they existed, but don't add them when they didn't exist. That way they will be stored just when the user has interest in them.
- Use another file
- Don't store window size at all
- Store it not in pixels but through other options like size=large, size=100%, ... so that it doesn't change each time

[Jelmer Vernooij (jelmer)]

The only option that's really feasible is saving in a different file.

The pixels are stored to allow restoring the window at the same location, so the user can close the window and it will appear again at the same location. This is intentionally saved always, so there is no user configuration required.

There are other things in Bazaar as well that automatically update the configuration file. e.g. the push locations are automatically updated.

[Daniel Clemente (n142857)]

The problem is that this information is very dynamic, whereas other (like push locations) is more static. It is also internal and need not be exposed to the user.

Maybe there is already some sort of global registry to store internal information, either in ~/.bazaar or in the operating system (something like gconf). Placing windows seems to be the window manager's work.

A new file in ~/.bazaar/ just for window sizes would also work.

[Jelmer Vernooij (jelmer)]

Doesn't locations.conf get updated for you very often? Every time you branch/push/pull a bzr branch that you hadn't before bzr will write to locations.conf.

Window managers don't save this sort of information, it's really up to apps to remember what their old locations were.

gconf is not really an option as it would tie us to GNOME, and bzr-gtk doesn't rely on GNOME at the moment (but can optionally use GNOME components).

[Vincent Ladeuil (vila)]

gannotate use its own '.conf' file, viz can do the same.