Hi,

I am using commands to place windows -- i have some pesky windows that get moved around, and a BAT file that places them using TCC's activate command.

After years of struggling, I finally submitted a bug report to TCC, only to be told by the creator of the TCC command line --

"This doesn't have anything to do with TCC - the coordinates are being passed as-is to the Windows API (SetWindowPlacement). Windows will change the coordinates if you change the scaling, or if you're running a screen manager. (Or possibly a third-party app that is hooking the API.)"

I thorougly believe Rex Conn's explanation here. The activate command worked fine in the past, only once i started moving to multiple monitor + DisplayFusion life did this become a problem.

So, I thorughly believe DisplayFusion is changing these coordinates, and that that is also the root cause of other bugs I've reported and experienced.

this is also why i've requested DisplayFusion provide window-position-lock functionality, but frankly, that's not going to work right either if the coordinates are being changed on me.

I should also note that my monitor configuration does not change. But if i turn off/change inputs on a tv/stereo such that windows doesn't have acces to a screen, and then bring it back -- things won't be in the right place. And apparently the windows coordinates are perturbed as well

This is a pretty deep bug and I kind of expect you to be skeptical of me, and I can't really say much besides "Trust me", buuuut

There's simply no better exlanation for an absolute window placement command in a 30 year old command line to suddenly start placing windows in a different position during the same user session, other than the windows coordinates themselves being changed.

For cross-reference, the TCC bug report is here:

https://jpsoft.com/forums/threads/activate-command-with-absolute-coordinates-does-not-place-window-consistently.11626/#post-66424

Well unfortunately, I don't think exiting displayfusion provides as much information as it usually would in situations.

Becuase if this is true, the coordinates are already changed. Exiting displayfusion won't reset them back to original values.

So window placement commands using absolute coordinates continue to put the window in the wrong place after displayfusion closes becuase the coordinates have already been changed at the windows level -- ostensibly by displayfusion, since i'm not sure what else would be doing that.

I simply have to edit my window placement bat file... sometimes several times a week. At least 4 different values to put the same window in the same position now.

Alas, long term testing requires me leaving my computer in a state that drives me insane. I.E. Turning displayfusion off completely for days at a time, taking it out of my windows startup, rebooting..

I really can't live without a taskbar on each screen 😢

As an aside, what seems to trigger the window moving is me going in and out of fullscreen in unrelated apps. I hve no idea why this moves the window. But that's why i have a BAT file to reset it's position. And that's how i;ve come to find out, absolute coordinates just don't work because the whole coordinate system shifts by about 100 to 400 pixels.

I honestly have no clue what moves it. It's the MiniLyrics widow for Winamp, but Minilyrics.exe is actually a separate process.

I do use tasbars - someime of custom size - on all my non-primary monitors.

But the only trigger I have is one I was given by support to help with the windows not restoring properly after monitor disappearing problem. Alas, I still end up with like 10 window restored to a monitor they were never, ever on.

Several different problems here.

As for the coordinates changing such that window placement coordinates are not consistent -- I'm not sure how to even engineer a test case.

That's my issue with several of these bugs. Not sure how to even engineer a test case. I just know that 100% things are not working as they should.

The coordiantes not being reset would be nice. I have a single keypress that fixes the window placement with a BAT file, but if i have to edit the BAT file every few days it can be frustrating.

I would really like to get to the bottom of this.

I have 4 screens that are always in the same order, same resolution (1920x1080*3 + a 800x600 VGA monitor), and same scaling (but not same as each other! I just mean that i never change the settings for a particular physical screen).

(I've actually taken to screenshotting it to prove this to myself.)

Coordinates shouldn't change.
But they do.

And once they're changed, it survives closing DisplayFusion and it survives reboots. Those are simply the new, permanent coordinates until the next glitch, which can be days, weeks, or months apart.

And the change offset is typically less than 400px.

Okay, here is my baseline. I just fixed the BAT file up again yesterday. I'll have to wait days/weeks/months for it to be perturbed. It's usually about 2-4 weeks on average. I'll try not to change anything in the meanwhile, and when it finally does whatever it is that's happening, I'll repeat the process and they can be diff'ed or such
Good idea! thanks!!