Bug 102607 - Display application menu and title bar side by side for maximized windows
Summary: Display application menu and title bar side by side for maximized windows
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: kwin
Classification: Plasma
Component: decorations (show other bugs)
Version: unspecified
Platform: Debian testing Linux
: NOR wishlist
Target Milestone: 4.10
Assignee: KWin default assignee
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on: 266596
Blocks:
  Show dependency treegraph
 
Reported: 2005-03-27 17:46 UTC by Fred Schättgen
Modified: 2013-01-11 16:46 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed In: 4.10


Attachments
mockup (237.50 KB, image/png)
2005-03-27 17:49 UTC, Fred Schättgen
Details

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Description Fred Schättgen 2005-03-27 17:46:58 UTC
Version:            (using KDE KDE 3.4.0)
Installed from:    Debian testing/unstable Packages

Would it be possible to display the application menu embedded into the title bar for maximized windows somehow?

There are two reason for wanting this:
- First, there is slightly more vertical space on the screen then. With wide screen displays (many new laptop computers use them) this is an even bigger issue.
- Second, since the menu bar can be directly at the upper border of the screen then, it would offer the same benefits with respect to fitt's law than the MacOS style menu for maximized windows, while still keeping the user interfarce of an application together.

Removing the window decoration for maximized windows will offer the same benefits, but it's not usable for average users, because the window can't be easily moved, restored or closed and the title won't be visible at all.

An embedded menu bar otoh could be an option for everyone, since the window can be handled as usual, and it would look better and more consistent than a solution where the menu bar draws the window buttons itself.
Drawback is that this solution would require support by the toolkit, just like the MacOS-style menu.

I don't know how this could be accomplished though. Would it be possible to let the window decoration swallow a widget of the application?
Comment 1 Fred Schättgen 2005-03-27 17:49:15 UTC
Created attachment 10367 [details]
mockup

something like that...
Comment 2 Stefan Gehn 2005-03-27 18:07:04 UTC
I don't think so, a window-decoration doesn't have to be as big as needed for an embedded menubar. Furthermore there can be decos with their window title on the left side of a window instead of the usual placement at the top.
Comment 3 Fred Schättgen 2005-03-27 18:28:48 UTC
It would have to be supported by the decoration anyway, so it can take care of it. And if there is not enough room for at least a good part of the title next to the embedded menu, then the menu bar should stay below.

Putting the title bar to the left would be simpler and work with all applications, but I don't think it is the same usability wise. The buttons would have to move to one side, so either the window menu is on the right for maximized windows or you have to close it on the left.
Also vertical text isn't very easy to read. And try to imagine moving windows around with the title bar on the left. It would feel weird at best.

With an embedded menu bar, everything would stay at it's well know place, so even my good old mother would find the menu and the window buttons.
I've just noticed that this seems to be a duplicate of #32537. The screenshots there don't work anymore, but it sounds the same more or less. But I don't think that the MacOS menu bar is a good answer...
Comment 4 Knut Johansson 2005-03-27 21:41:43 UTC
Something like this can be done by the window decoration as you say, and I remember seeing something like this on KDE-Look. Have you looked at/tried the Fitz window decoration? I think it's something like what you are thinking of.

http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=19455
Comment 5 Fred Schättgen 2005-03-27 22:43:29 UTC
Looked and tried. But it suffers from the problem that I can't find out easily which part of the menu bar are unused. So the author didn't even bother to show the title so far, because it's hard to guess how much space to use for it.
I wouldn't have posted this wish if there was no MacOS-style menu bar already. So I believe that this isn't fundamentally more complicated. 

But I guess should ask on kde-usability first. Maybe they can come up with a few reasons quickly why this idea isn't worth being tried.
Comment 6 Martin Flöser 2012-03-11 08:24:08 UTC
There is some work going on to integrate the menu into the window decoration. See http://gnumdk.blogspot.com/2012/02/kde-appmenu-support.html

We hope to see this merged in for 4.9
Comment 7 Martin Flöser 2012-11-09 13:24:21 UTC
Application-menu support in window decoration has been merged into master and will be part of 4.10

commit 1bb5e4fb39613675eac4a29c7c11f3a54303a083
Author: Cedric Bellegarde <gnumdk@gmail.com>
Date:   Fri Nov 9 13:44:50 2012 +0100

    GUI: Kwin appmenu support:
    - Add support for application menu button in Kwin
    - Add kded appmenu configuration in kcm_style
Comment 8 jos poortvliet 2013-01-11 15:21:03 UTC
How do you enable this? I can find the setting in the KDED appmenu but the app menu isn't show in maximized windows (or in any other situation), only the button.
Comment 9 Martin Flöser 2013-01-11 16:46:36 UTC
(In reply to comment #8)
> How do you enable this? I can find the setting in the KDED appmenu but the
> app menu isn't show in maximized windows (or in any other situation), only
> the button.
that isn't possible. We considered the feature as implemented good enough, so we set it to fixed. It's as close as we can get.