Edit Text Style dialog window position

[Brian_J]

Some of the dialog windows always appears in the center of the screen, no matter where I positioned the window the last time I used it. I believe the intended behavior is for the dialog to open in the position it was last in before being closed.

Some of the dialogs experiencing this behavior:

• Edit Text Style
• Layer Effects
• Edit Brush

It’s frustrating because the first thing I usually have to do after opening one of the above dialogs is move the window to where I want it.

I’m assuming this is a bug — I reported the same issue with the Color Chooser and Text Wrap last year and Mac users advised the dialog opened in the position it was last used. The issue was corrected in Windows (see bug report). There are also other dialogs that do not experience this bug, like the Adjustments dialog.

Note: This bug exists in Designer, Photo, and Publisher.

Affinity Publisher: 1.10.5
Windows 10
Hardware Acceleration: Off

[Lee_T]

Hi Brian, 

I've just tested this on a few windows 10 / 1.10.5 installations of each with and without acceleration and cannot replicate the issue, it may be worth a reinstall of the software or resetting your applications settings (ctrl whilst booting the software, after backing up your personal files).

Lee

 

[Brian_J]

I reinstalled all the Affinity apps and that didn't fix the issue.

Regarding pressing the Ctrl key while booting the software... to make sure I understand, you're advising me to press the Ctrl key while opening each Affinity app? Why is it important to back up my personal files before doing this?

Thanks,
Brian

[Lee_T]

When you hold ctrl and launch Affinity apps, you will be presented with a menu like this: 

 

These options erase preferences etc and can help troubleshoot issues like the one you are having, reset studios in particular is the one I'm hoping will resolve your issue. Obviously some of these options are destructive to your saved data such as brushes/presets etc, hence the backup advice.

 

Lee

[Brian_J]

@LeeThorpe Thanks for the info.

I performed the Clear User Data action with the default items selected (the first 3, as shown in your screenshot). The issue was not resolved.

Is there anything else you suggest I try on my end?

[Brian_J]

Any additional thoughts about this?

[Lee_T]

As above but resetting all of the options after backing up.

If this doesn't resolve the issue, removing the software and all of the files/folders in the locations shown here before reinstalling.

 

 

Lee

[Brian_J]

Doing the following did not fix the issue:

• Uninstalled Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher
• Deleted the 'Affinity' folder in AppData/Roaming
• Restarted computer
• Reinstalled Affinity apps

The dialog windows continue to open in the center of the screen.

Is there anything else you suggest I try, or do you think it's an issue with the apps?

 

[Old Bruce]

I realize this is a Windows bug but I want to point out that Opening in the Centre occurs on Mac OS with the Text Styles Edit Dialog, but not the Effects or Brush dialogs.

[MikeTO]

21 hours ago, Old Bruce said:

I realize this is a Windows bug but I want to point out that Opening in the Centre occurs on Mac OS with the Text Styles Edit Dialog, but not the Effects or Brush dialogs.

I believe this is because Edit Text Styles is a modal dialog and must be opened in the centre of the screen while Edit Brush is modeless and opens at the last-used position for user convenience.

[Brian_J]

Do Serif moderators have any additional input about this issue?

[Lee_T]

Hi Brian_J,

Still looking into this, it's quite tricky without being to replicate in any way over a wide array of hardware. Out of interest do you have any desktop/window management/dual monitor software/wallpaper manager etc software installed?

Lee

[Brian_J]

15 minutes ago, LeeThorpe said:

Out of interest do you have any desktop/window management/dual monitor software/wallpaper manager etc software installed?

I use two monitors, but I don't have any software installed that supplements Windows settings/functionality. I use Windows 10 to manage everything like the desktop, monitors, wallpaper, etc.

Thanks for continuing to investigate. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Old Bruce]

Just played about a bit and I realized that the dialog is opening in the middle of the screen here on my Mac. Not the middle of the window. 

[Brian_J]

I'm revisiting this issue. The Text Styles window is the one that I would most like to have remember the last location.

As Mike mentioned, the Text Styles window is a modal dialog, so perhaps its behavior is limited by things that non-modal windows aren't. But it's not clear to me if all users are experiencing the same issue that I am — Text Styles dialog not remembering the last location — or if only some users experience this.

I often go back and forth between document content and the Text Styles dialog, and it would be nice if the Text Styles dialog opened in the last location I had it positioned.

I'd appreciate it if Serif or anyone could help me understand:

1. Is this a bug or intended behavior?
2. Does the Text Styles window always open in the middle of the screen because its a modal dialog, or is it possible for it to open in the last location it was in before being closed?

[MikeTO]

4 hours ago, Brian_J said:

1. Is this a bug or intended behavior?
2. Does the Text Styles window always open in the middle of the screen because its a modal dialog, or is it possible for it to open in the last location it was in before being closed?

It's not a bug. Serif chose to make this a modal dialog and the macOS standard for modal dialogs is to open them in the centre of the screen. While there is probably a way for Serif to move the dialog after opening it, that isn't the way this is supposed to work on macOS so it's best to stick to the way Apple designed it.

As to why it's modal, it's probably so that if you make a dozen edits to a text style you will get one undo history item rather than a dozen items.

If you're opening the dialog a lot you might consider editing the formatting for one instance of the style using the Paragraph and Character panels and then updating the style, all without ever opening the dialog. I rarely open the dialog once I have my styles created, I just tweak them from the panels.

Good luck.

[bbrother]

8 hours ago, MikeTO said:

As to why it's modal, it's probably so that if you make a dozen edits to a text style you will get one undo history item rather than a dozen items.

To limit the number of items in the undo history, dialogs desn't need to open in modal mode and therefore in the center.

Great example for that is the "Alignment" panel. A simple dropdown panel that doesn't work in modal mode and where if you make several edits (verticaly + horizontaly), while all changes are reflected live on the canvas, only one event is created in the undo history and it's called "Align", and only after you confirm the changes.

So the logical conclusion is that:

Developers have complete programmatic control over how edits made in "Edit Text Style" dialog or other dialogs are registered in the history (as one or multiple events) despite the modal mode or not.

 

12 hours ago, Brian_J said:

But it's not clear to me if all users are experiencing the same issue that I am — Text Styles dialog not remembering the last location — or if only some users experience this.

@Brian_J You're not the only person experiencing this. I'm on Windows and this behavior really annoys me. 
What makes me even more angry is that this issue was reported a long time ago and nothing was done about it, even though it shouldn't be a big problem for developers.

The last position of the "Edit Text Style" dialog should be remembered as it's for "Layer Effects" or "Adjustment" panels and should be shared between opened documents in current app session. The only dialogs for which it is acceptable or even desireable to open in the center and whose position shouldn't be remembered are important notifications.

[MikeTO]

7 hours ago, bbrother said:

Great example for that is the "Alignment" panel. A simple dropdown panel that doesn't work in modal mode and where if you make several edits (verticaly + horizontaly), while all changes are reflected live on the canvas, only one event is created in the undo history and it's called "Align", and only after you confirm the changes.

You're right, they could make it non-modal and just use an Apply button to make it a single history item. I don't know why it's modal then but as long as it's modal it needs to be centered.

I know Adobe apps ignore this standard, but their apps aren't very Mac like these days.

[Brian_J]

16 hours ago, MikeTO said:

If you're opening the dialog a lot you might consider editing the formatting for one instance of the style using the Paragraph and Character panels and then updating the style, all without ever opening the dialog. I rarely open the dialog once I have my styles created, I just tweak them from the panels.

I suppose I always use the Text Styles panel out of habit. In contrast to your workflow, I rarely access the Paragraph and Character panels. Perhaps I should rethink my approach to editing text styles in Affinity.

I must say, though, the thought of editing text in the Paragraph and Character panels makes me uneasy — it introduces the opportunity for errors… i.e., overriding Text Styles and neglecting to apply the edits to the Text Styles. I strive to make processes foolproof. But there are trade offs, so I’ll have a go at editing text in the Paragraph and Character panels, then applying the changes to text styles. Thanks, Mike.