AutoHotkey Community

OK, I've confirmed the problem is to do with DPI Virtualisation, which requires Aero (also known as the DWM=Desktop Window Manager).

On Windows 7 64-bit with DWM and 150% DPI, I see an interesting problem: some applications work correctly with WindowPad, and some do not.

For instance, Explorer and Calc, which appear to be DPI-aware, end up squashed into a scaled down portion of the screen, whereas Foxit Reader, SpeedCrunch and Reshacker, which do not appear to be DPI-aware, work correctly. This makes sense: AutoHotkey gets the virtualised system metrics (monitor co-ords), then applies them to other applications where they are correct only if the application is not DPI-aware.

However, when I tested with 200%, some applications (including SpeedCrunch) were positioned off-screen and in inconsistent sizes/positions. I couldn't figure it out; maybe Windows got confused and needed a reboot (though I still haven't rebooted).

The solution might be to scale by the DPI setting for applications which are DPI-aware, but I need to know how to determine DPI-awareness.

Btw, VirtualBox does not look nice at 150% DPI... (it has rendering issues within its UI, and also scales the VM).


Edit: I've been getting very inconsistent results while testing.

For instance,

• Though not ideal, I expect DPI-unaware applications to be positioned according to a rectangle like {0,0,A_ScreenWidth*dpi/96,A_ScreenHeight*dpi/96}; in other words, from the top-left of the screen to the bottom-right according to the "effective resolution" (which is lower with higher DPI settings). Sometimes it works this way, and sometimes they are instead positioned according to something more like {200,200,A_ScreenWidth,A_ScreenHeight}, which makes absolutely no sense.
• MouseGetPos will inconsistently fail to detect the appropriate window (for the OutputVarWin arg).
• My Mouse Gestures script was intermittently (i.e. at very close intervals) retrieving mouse co-ords in either DPI-scaled or DPI-unscaled co-ords (or perhaps scaled**2 vs scaled).
• Worst of all, I can change DPI settings to and fro, and any of the above behaviour (with the same DPI settings) will change.

In Windows 7, if you choose "Set custom text size (DPI)", there is an option for "Use Windows XP style DPI scaling". I believe enabling this option disables DPI Virtualisation. I suggest you try this, and see how it affects the script and your applications. On my system it seems to fix the script and typically improve rendering in in various applications.

thanks.

I set the xp flag and this resolved the windowpad problem! thanks!

Hi again, Even though the XP flag solved the problem, I noticed the XP DPI mode doesn't really work that nice. I prefer the "new" DPI setting. However I understand that it seems to be to difficult to fix at the moment.

how can i set one of the keys to ; (semicolon) in the WindowPad.ini file?

I want to use this key because it's real close to capslock in the Dvorak keyset.. luckily all of ',.aoe;qj work, except for semicolon.

for use in autohotkey w/o windowpad, see http://www.autohotkey.com/forum/topic6248.html

WindowPad uses the GetPrivateProfileSection function to read the hotkey sections from the INI file. This strips out lines which begin with ;. You can get around it by prepending a modifier to the hotkey, or using the virtual keycode (vk) or scan code (sc). I would suggest either the *wildcard or $usehook hotkey modifier. If you're using Capslock as a modifier key, the keyboard hook is probably already in use and there shouldn't be any downside of using $.

thanks, that works on my winxp

Im tried to move my demul window (dreamcast emulator)
and I made aan script with this code:



but it doesn't work, where is the problem, im doint this as the configuration say.

Thanks

Please read the "WindowPadMove" section of WindowPad.html, and note the following:

• As in the AutoHotkey help file, [ brackets ] are used to denote optional parameters; i.e. parameters between [ and ] may be omitted, and the brackets themselves should not be used.
• X and Y must be replaced with the appropriate value: -1, 0 or +1.
• WidthFactor and HeightFactor, if specified, must be between 0.0 and 1.0.
• WindowPad.exe is not a command. Use Run WindowPad.exe.

Many thanks Lexikos, I modified my .ahk to this:



But it doesn't work,

Why did you remove the quotation marks???

Lexikos, I've been noticing some weird stuff when I try to minimize MediaMonkey in my scripts. Basically it does not minimize correctly for me when I used WinMinimize, but with WindowPad, it works perfectly.

I noticed that in your windowpad code, you minimize a window using this command:


When I changed that to WinMinimize, the same problem occurred using WindowPad to minimize the window. So something about your PostMessage is special. Obviously it works the best. Can you comment on why it's so good?

Thanks!

Note: Apparently one can't just replace WinMinimize with PostMessage...you need to get the window first...

"PostMessage, WM_SYSCOMMAND, SC_MINIMIZE" replicates what happens when you click the minimize button on the window or select Minimize from the window's system menu. The default handling of the message causes the window to be minimized (and also plays the system "minimize" sound), but each window may add its own handling for custom behaviour.

On the other hand, WinMinimize uses the Win32 API to directly minimize the window; it does something equivalent to this:

It is possible that MediaMonkey doesn't actually minimize when you click minimize; for instance, it could hide the window and create a tray icon. In that case, WinMinimize will bypass the custom behaviour and therefore won't be consistent with the PostMessage method.
Actually, it is equally valid to omit the window title for WinMinimize in the same context; it will use the Last Found Window. Conversely, you can specify a window title with PostMessage, but you need a comma for each omitted parameter preceding it:

Ah, right on, these music player apps seem to have an ability to minimize to a compact view. I had similar issue with iTunes.

So this would be the direct replacement for WinMimize,A

Thanks so much for your help. I've been using Autohotkey & WindowPad for over a year, never fails. And each time I play with it, it just gets better.

Thank you guys, this is just what I need!

Thanks for this great script. Makes working with multiple windows on "older" PC (i.e. Vista) enjoyable.

But I found that WindowPad doesn't work for ONE specific Application Window. I am trying to figure out why. Any suggestions you have to help me debug this behavior would be most helpful.

If it helps then the Application Window is ScottradeElite (from www.scottrade.com).