Why do the Windows / Arrow keys not position the Quicken app window as expected?

Daddio25

I am a heavy user of hot-keys. I am frustrated by the fact that the Windows/Arrow keys do not position the Quicken app window as way they do for all other apps. I haven't really taken the time to try and figure out the "logic" of how the function in Quicken. I am sure that it is not random - but is frustrating. I frequently want Quicken on the left half of the screen and something else on the right. Getting Quicken where I want it usually takes multiple hot-key strokes. What I have found is that Windows/RightArrow puts Quicken on the left!? And vise versa. Just odd.

Why is this happening?

Chris_QPW

The Quicken Windows developers in their infinite wisdom have decided to put controls in the system title bar like the search (maybe because Microsoft does stuff like that), but their isn't any such support in the standard Windows APIs for this (Microsoft of course has access to people that can "rewrite" the standard APIs).

What this means is that there is a "fake window" with such controls on it, and then the "guts of Quicken" is put inside that.

What this means is that they are controlling the size and position of the main Quicken "fake" Window instead of letting the standard APIs handle it.  And frankly they aren't that good at it.  You can see it mess up in many different ways.  Like not quite being the right size when starting and then resizing when the rest of "guts of Quicken" is drawn.  And positioning and sizing being wrong in circumstances like multiple displays that aren't the same resolution/Windows scale factor, and yes in the case you are talking about.  The black screen at times when Quicken gets busy is another artifact of this.

@NotACPA The hot-key that @Daddio25 is using is a Windows hot-key for positioning application windows.

NotACPA

What "hot-key" app are you using?  Because while QWin has "shortcut" keys (such as CTRL-A for your account list), it doesn't have "hot-keys" as such.

Daddio25

@NotACPA I am not using an app - just Windows hot-keys. Maybe Quicken has redefined some of the them? Is there a complete list of Q hot-keys?

Chris_QPW

The Quicken Windows developers in their infinite wisdom have decided to put controls in the system title bar like the search (maybe because Microsoft does stuff like that), but their isn't any such support in the standard Windows APIs for this (Microsoft of course has access to people that can "rewrite" the standard APIs).

What this means is that there is a "fake window" with such controls on it, and then the "guts of Quicken" is put inside that.

What this means is that they are controlling the size and position of the main Quicken "fake" Window instead of letting the standard APIs handle it.  And frankly they aren't that good at it.  You can see it mess up in many different ways.  Like not quite being the right size when starting and then resizing when the rest of "guts of Quicken" is drawn.  And positioning and sizing being wrong in circumstances like multiple displays that aren't the same resolution/Windows scale factor, and yes in the case you are talking about.  The black screen at times when Quicken gets busy is another artifact of this.

@NotACPA The hot-key that @Daddio25 is using is a Windows hot-key for positioning application windows.

Daddio25

> @Chris_QPW said:
> What this means is that they are controlling the size and position of the main Quicken "fake" Window instead of letting the standard APIs handle it.  And frankly they aren't that good at it.

That is a HUGE understatement.

Thanks for the explanation. That helps. At least I understand why.

I had noticed that the window "frame" was not standard, but hadn't noticed the extra functions that were added. I just don't use them. Couldn't they just put them along side the regular menus? Not a Windows programmer so don't know how much that would take.

Chris_QPW

Daddio25 said:

Couldn't they just put them along side the regular menus? Not a Windows programmer so don't know how much that would take.

Yes, they could have and it was suggested to them many times by me and another programmer.  But "saving face" and pretending to be able to do what Microsoft can do is evidently more important to them.

Daddio25

@Chris_QPW Too bad. I would think that better user experience should drive this sort of thing.