The clone window moving around bug
 

Looking at the xml version of the uisettings I think I see where the aeons old game bug comes from that has clone windows such as the bags moving around the screen when window size changes.

Window location is saved relative to of nine positions on the screen (top left, top middle, etc.). Previously when decoding the binary .ini files I had thought it was according to the PackLocation settings (as it should be IMO), but in order to shave off some bits I guess it is being saved relative to the nearest such position. In the XML this is stored as the "Alignment" property.

The bug now is that when the game window size changes, the client apparently recalculates the window position based on the Alignment in the uisettings, disregarding the PackLocation in the actual window itself. I can clearly reproduce this by either manipulating the .xml settings or simply by moving e.g. a bag to a respective corner of the screen. It will "stick" there when the client is resized, regardless of it's PackLocation setting.

I assume that this is because the client caches the window _clones only in the UIsettings (we know that they are not stored in _HUD) and reloads them from there without checking back with the non-clone version in _HUD. Possibly this was also done to prevent windows moving off screen, but I'd still consider it a bug (and people have been complaining about it for ages).

Ideally I'd like to have this fixed by putting all _clones into _HUD and thus treating them like normal windows (I guess you would still copy them to the non-clone version OnFocus() but you could copy from the _HUD version then). That would also allow manipulation of the clones by modders (such as I always wanted to mod a bag mod that has all bags glued together and moving as a single bag, but without being able to access the _clones via script I can't).

From my understanding windows are not save in reference to the Top or bottom of the actual screen but from the relation to the letterbox frame. You can see this by adjusting the letterbox in game and watching your windows move up and down the screen. This is where the movement comes from as the game adjust the the letterbox from the resizing it moves the bag. I also notice in on hotbars also but not as pronounced.

disclaimer:
That was the behavior when I set up eXtreme's UISettings files. It has been a while since I've messed with detailed settings so things could of changed but I doubt it.

Maybe that changed, currently changing the letterbox size doesn't have any effect on any window position at all. Or maybe there's a setting that affects that which I haven't set.

But in any case the bug is also happening with the letterbox disabled (as it was in the past - I never used the letterbox but I had my bags move around).

PS: Yeah, it's also with respect to the uisettings that I noticed this. Now with the XML I was just "moving" bags to "calculated" positions.

PS: For reference (yeah I know this is a bug thread, but whatever, I'll find it here when I need it :p), the alignment property takes the same values as I previously decoded for the .ini file: http://www.eq2interface.com/forums/s...5&postcount=13

You guys are right, the windows are stored relative to their positioning in the main window so that when the window resizes, the windows move with it. It makes sense because if you have hotbars, chat windows, etc at the bottom of your screen and you drag the window bigger you wouldn't want those windows floating in the middle now.

We could possibly add a new value for a window that says ignore those alignment settings. I also seem to remember code that takes the letterbox into consideration when aligning the windows, but it might have been based on an option that you can toggle on or off.