2007-12-19 Havoc Pennington <hp@redhat.com>
* src/ui, src/core, src/include: sort source files into these
directories according to which part of the WM they are supposed to
be in. In an eventual plan, we should also create
src/compositor/render, src/compositor/fallback and move some of
the compositor stuff into that.
* autogen.sh: require a newer automake, so we don't have to use
a recursive build
* src/ui/tabpopup.c: put in a hack to make the build temporarily
work, want to commit the large rearrangement before fixing this
not to include workspace.h or frame.h
* src/core/iconcache.c (meta_read_icons): temporarily break this
to get the build to work, want to commit the large rearrangement
before fixing this file not to include theme.h
svn path=/trunk/; revision=3491
2004-04-04 Elijah Newren <newren gmail com>
Fix lots of little issues with min/max constraints and size
increment constraints. Fixes#329152, #418395, and possibly
others.
* src/window-props.c (meta_set_normal_hints):
Do more checking to make sure application specified constraints
are self-consistent, modifying the size_hints as necessary to
achieve self-consistency.
* src/constraints.c (setup_constraint_info): remove ugly
copy-pasto, (constrain_size_increments): be careful that fixing
violation of the constraints doesn't cause a violation of the
minimum size constraints.
* src/window.c (ensure_size_hints_satisfied): new function,
(meta_window_unmaximize, meta_window_unmake_fullscreen): the
saved_rect may no longer be valid (as in the case of #329152) so
call ensure_size_hints_satisfied to fix it up.
* doc/how-to-get-focus-right.txt: Some minor spacing and wording
fixes completely unrelated to the rest of this commit
svn path=/trunk/; revision=3155
2007-04-02 Elijah Newren <newren gmail com>
Patch from Carlo Wood to do some miscellaneous code cleanups found
while working on #358311.
* src/constraints.c (do_screen_and_xinerama_relative_constraints):
nicer way of avoiding compilation warning
* src/boxes.c (meta_rectangle_clamp_to_fit_into_region,
meta_rectangle_clip_to_region, meta_rectangle_shove_into_region):
Much cleaner way of ignoring invalid boxes in comparisons
svn path=/trunk/; revision=3145
2007-04-02 Elijah Newren <newren gmail com>
Patch from Carlo Wood to fix handling of unidirectional
maximization and partial struts. #358311.
* src/constraints.c (constrain_maximization):
determine target size for unidirectionally maximized windows by
determining how far they can be maximized without hitting
orthogonal struts. Avoids weird "empty spaces".
* src/boxes.[ch] (meta_rectangle_expand_to_avoiding_struts):
new function
2007-04-02 Elijah Newren <newren gmail com>
Make the strut lists (stored in workspaces) record both the
rectangle and the side that the strut is on. Lots of code
cleanups relating to struts.
* src/boxes.h (struct MetaStrut):
new struct for struts
* src/window.[ch] (struct MetaStruts, struct MetaWindow,
meta_window_update_struts):
overhaul to make window's struts remember their side as well as
their rectangular location, and just use a list instead of several
copies of near-identical code for left/right/top/bottom (allowing
us to nuke MetaStruts struct as well)
* src/testboxes.c (new_meta_strut, get_strut_list):
* src/workspace.c (ensure_work_areas_validated):
* src/boxes.c (meta_rectangle_get_minimal_spanning_set_for_region,
meta_rectangle_expand_to_avoiding_struts,
get_disjoint_strut_rect_list_in_region, fix_up_edges,
meta_rectangle_find_onscreen_edges,
meta_rectangle_find_nonintersected_xinerama_edges):
modify to handle struts being rectangle + side instead of just rectangle
* src/workspace.c (ensure_work_areas_validated):
simplify strut list creation considerably given MetaWindow change,
modify work_area computations to take advantage of region
computations being done (makes the code shorter as well as more
robust against pathological cases).
* src/util.[ch] (meta_free_gslist_and_elements):
new convenience function
* src/common.h (enum MetaDirection):
* src/edge-resistance.c (movement_towards_edge):
* src/boxes.c (meta_rectangle_edge_aligns,
rectangle_and_edge_intersection, split_edge):
Add more MetaDirection fields for convenience
* src/boxes.h (enum FixedDirections):
* src/constraints.c (setup_constraint_info, place_window_if_needed):
add a FIXED_DIRECTION_NONE to the FixedDirections enum to make
code more clear
svn path=/trunk/; revision=3144
2006-10-13 Carlo Wood <carlo@alinoe.com>
Fix cases when titlebar is allowed offscreen and shouldn't be (and
vice-versa). #333995.
* src/display.[ch] (struct _MetaDisplay): add grab_frame_action
member
* src/display.[ch] (meta_display_begin_grab_op):
* src/window.[ch] (meta_window_begin_grab_op):
* src/core.[ch] (meta_core_begin_grab_op):
Add frame_action parameter (core & window versions pass it on to
display)
* src/display.c (event_callback):
* src/window.c (meta_window_begin_grab_op,
meta_window_client_message, menu_callback):
* frames.c (meta_frames_button_press_event):
* keybindings.c (do_choose_window, handle_begin_move,
handle_begin_resize, handle_workspace_switch):
Pass whether the action should be considered a 'frame_action',
which will be used to determine whether to force the titlebar to
remain onscreen, to meta_*_begin_grab_op
* constraints.c (constrain_titlebar_visible):
Replace previous ugly hack by using grab_frame_action (and whether
the action is a user action) to determine whether to enforce the
titlebar_visible constraint.
2006-10-01 Elijah Newren <newren gmail com>
* src/*.[ch]: Stick an emacs comment directive at the beginning of
all the code files so that people using emacs will be more likely
to get coding style correct in their patches. We still need a
similar vi directive. #358866
2006-10-01 Elijah Newren <newren gmail com>
Patch from Carlo Wood to ensure that maximized and minimized
properties are maintained across restarts. #358042.
* src/constraints.c (place_window_if_needed): fix up partial
maximization handling and add minimize_after_placement handling.
* src/display.[ch] (struct MetaDisplay, meta_display_open): add a
new display->display_opening flag to allow handling startup
differently where needed.
* src/window-props.c (reload_net_wm_state): handle
_net_wm_state_hidden as well, setting
window->minimize_after_placement appropriately
* src/window.[ch] (struct MetaWindow, meta_window_new_with_attrs):
add a window->minimize_after_placement field
* src/window.c (meta_window_new_with_attrs): only unminimize the
window and its transients if the display isn't being opened,
(unmaximize_window_before_freeing): don't reset the state unless
the window is becoming withdrawn, if the screen is being closed be
sure to save the unmaximized state of the window so the next
window manager can restore it
2006-09-18 Elijah Newren <newren gmail com>
* src/constraints.c (constrain_maximization): Ignore maximum size
hints when maximizing. Should fix#327543 (see comment 4 and comment
5).
2006-09-07 Elijah Newren <newren gmail com>
* src/constraints.c (update_onscreen_requirements): make sure
windows returning from fullscreen mode are constrained to be
"onscreen"; fixes#353699.
2006-08-21 Elijah Newren <newren gmail com>
Fix several bugs with handling of fullscreen windows, causing them
to not actually be fullscreen. #343115 (and also #346927,
#350547, #351643, the recent additional WINE-related issue
mentioned on the mailing list, and probably others...)
* src/constraints.c (setup_constraint_info): if a window tries to
resize to fullscreen-size and it has a fullscreen function but
isn't actually marked as fullscreen then assist it by marking it
as such, (constrain_fully_onscreen, constrain_titlebar_visible):
ignore this constraint for fullscreen windows since such windows
have a separate specialized constraint
* src/stack.c (window_is_fullscreen_size, get_standalone_layer):
remove the old window_is_fullscreen_size() hack for detecting
windows to treat as fullscreen since it doesn't work well with the
new constraints framework (i.e. we needed a slightly different
hack)
* src/window.[ch] (meta_window_new_with_addrs): shuffle the order
of adding the window to the stack and moveresizing the window
since moveresizing can cause stack changes if the window's initial
size is fullscreen size, (meta_window_make_fullscreen,
meta_window_make_fullscreen_internal): split
meta_window_make_fullscreen() similar to meta_window_maximize() so
that constraints can make use of it
2006-08-07 Elijah Newren <newren gmail com>
Add a constrain_titlebar_visible constraint; should fix both bug
333328 and bug 345522. Not perfect (minor annoying snap pulling
windows back onscreen, plus an ugly hack almost as bad as the old
one), but tarballs are due in less than half an hour. ;-)
* src/boxes.[ch] (meta_rectangle_overlaps_with_region):
new function
* src/constraints.c (constrain_titlebar_visible): new function,
(enum ConstraintPriority, array all_constraints,
update_onscreen_requirements): various small changes to
accomodate the new function
* src/edge-resistance.c: remove the infinite edge resistance,
which was a big hack of a way to workaround the lack of a
titlebar_visible constraint
* src/window.[ch] (MetaWindow): new require_titlebar_visible
bitfield, (meta_window_new_with_attrs): initialized here
2006-04-02 Elijah Newren <newren gmail com>
Fix constraints bug causing negative width windows and crashes.
#336651
* src/constraints.c (constrain_partially_onscreen): Don't
accidentally shove & resize the window by requiring more pixels to
be onscreen than the size of the window.
2006-01-20 Elijah Newren <newren gmail com>
* src/constraints.c (setup_constraint_info): fixed_directions is
only meant for explicit user interactions; disable it for
everything else. There are other bugs and improvements that could
be made with fixed_directions that I should be filing too, but at
least put a FIXME there for now--I'm so lame. Fixes#327822.
2006-01-09 Elijah Newren <newren@gmail.com>
Be more strict about what is considered a valid region with
partial struts. Fixes#322070.
* src/boxes.[ch]:
(meta_rectangle_expand_region_conditionally):
new function behaving like meta_rectangle_expand_region() but
which only does so when the width and height of the rectangles
meet a certain threshold
(replace_rect_with_list):
Remove a compiling warning
* src/constraints.c:
(constrain_partially_onscreen):
provide minimum thresholds in each direction for the size of the
rectangles to avoid cases where only a single pixel thick layer of
a window might be showing
2005-11-21 Elijah Newren <newren@gmail.com>
* src/constraints.c (constrain_partially_onscreen): Relax the
partially onscreen constraint to allow the titlebar to touch the
bottom panel in order to make the new constraints code function
the same as the old version. Fixes#322071.
2005-11-21 Elijah Newren <newren@gmail.com>
* src/constraints.c (place_window_if_needed): When updating the
xinerama due to placement, update which maximal/spanning rect set
to use as well
2005-11-20 Elijah Newren <newren@gmail.com>
* src/constraints.c (place_window_if_needed): compute the frame
geometry due to maximization only after actually maximizing.
Fixes#321902.
2005-11-18 Elijah Newren <newren@gmail.com>
Merge of all the changes on the constraints_experiments branch.
This is just a summary, to get the full ChangeLog of those
changes (approx. 2000 lines):
cvs -q -z3 update -Pd -r constraints_experiments
cvs -q -z3 diff -pu -r CONSTRAINTS_EXPERIMENTS_BRANCHPOINT ChangeLog
Bugs fixed:
unfiled - constraints.c is overly complicated[1]
unfiled - constraints.c is not robust when all constraints
cannot simultaneously be met (constraints need to be
prioritized)
unfiled - keep-titlebar-onscreen constraint is decoration
unaware (since get_outermost_onscreen_positions()
forgets to include decorations)
unfiled - keyboard snap-moving and snap-resizing snap to hidden
edges
109553 - gravity w/ simultaneous move & resize doesn't work
113601 - maximize vertical and horizontal should toggle and be
constrained
122196 - windows show up under vertical panels
122670 - jerky/random resizing of window via keyboard[2]
124582 - keyboard and mouse snap-resizing and snap-moving
erroneously moves the window multidimensionally
136307 - don't allow apps to resize themselves off the screen
(*cough* filechooser *cough*)
142016, 143784 - windows should not span multiple xineramas
unless placed there by the user
143145 - clamp new windows to screensize and force them
onscreen, if they'll fit
144126 - Handle pathological strut lists sanely[3]
149867 - fixed aspect ratio windows are difficult to resize[4]
152898 - make screen edges consistent; allow easy slamming of
windows into the left, right, and bottom edges of the
screen too.
154706 - bouncing weirdness at screen edge with keyboard moving
or resizing
156699 - avoid struts when placing windows, if possible (nasty
a11y blocker)
302456 - dragging offscreen too restrictive
304857 - wireframe moving off the top of the screen is misleading
308521 - make uni-directional resizing easier with
alt-middle-drag and prevent the occasional super
annoying resize-the-wrong-side(s) behavior
312007 - snap-resize moves windows with a minimum size
constraint
312104 - resizing the top of a window can cause the bottom to
grow
319351 - don't instantly snap on mouse-move-snapping, remove
braindeadedness of having order of releasing shift and
releasing button press matter so much
[1] fixed in my opinion, anyway.
[2] Actually, it's not totally fixed--it's just annoying
instead of almost completely unusable. Matthias had a
suggestion that may fix the remainder of the problems (see
http://tinyurl.com/bwzuu).
[3] This bug was originally about not-quite-so-pathological
cases but was left open for the worse cases. The code from
the branch handles the remainder of the cases mentioned in
this bug.
[4] Actually, although it's far better there's still some minor
issues left: a slight drift that's only noticeable after
lots of resizing, and potential problems with partially
onscreen constraints due to not clearing any
fixed_directions flags (aspect ratio windows get resized in
both directions and thus aren't fixed in one of them)
New feature:
81704 - edge resistance for user move and resize operations;
in particular 3 different kinds of resistance are
implemented:
Pixel-Distance: window movement is resisted when it
aligns with an edge unless the movement is greater than
a threshold number of pixels
Timeout: window movement past an edge is prevented until
a certain amount of time has elapsed during the
operation since the first request to move it past that
edge
Keyboard-Buildup: when moving or resizing with the
keyboard, once a window is aligned with a certain edge
it cannot move past until the correct direction has
been pressed enough times (e.g. 2 or 3 times)
Major changes:
- constraints.c has been rewritten; very few lines of code from
the old version remain. There is a comment near the top of
the function explaining the basics of how the new framework
works. A more detailed explanation can be found in
doc/how-constraints-works.txt
- edge-resistance.[ch] are new files implementing edge-resistance.
- boxes.[ch] are new files containing low-level error-prone
functions used heavily in constraints.c and edge-resistance.c,
among various places throughout the code. testboxes.c
contains a thorough testsuite for the boxes.[ch] functions
compiled into a program, testboxes.
- meta_window_move_resize_internal() *must* be told the gravity
of the associated operation (if it's just a move operation,
the gravity will be ignored, but for resize and move+resize
the correct value is needed)
- the craziness of different values that
meta_window_move_resize_internal() accepts has been documented
in a large comment at the beginning of the function. It may
be possible to clean this up some, but until then things will
remain as they were before--caller beware.
- screen and xinerama usable areas (i.e. places not covered by
e.g. panels) are cached in the workspace now, as are the
screen and xinerama edges. These get updated with the
workarea in src/workspace.c:ensure_work_areas_validated()
2004-02-23 Rob Adams <readams@readams.net>
Add my copyright notice to a number of files on which it should
already exist.
* src/window.c (meta_window_notify_focus): modify code to move to
front of MRU list so that we can have an assert that it was there
in the first place. This code may be causing some crashes. See
#131196.
2004-01-12 Rob Adams <readams@readams.net>
* src/constraints.c (meta_window_constrain): if we maximize after
placement, and the window is too big to fix in the work area,
define a sane saved_rect approximately with dimensions
three-quarters approximately three quarters the size of the work
area. This avoids the problem where large windows would
unmaximize and actually get bigger. See #93590.
2003-10-06 Rob Adams <readams@readams.net>
* src/constraints.c (constraint_onscreen_*_func): disable onscreen
resize constraints for right, left, and bottom, since there is no
way to violate onscreen constraints by resizing in these
directions and the code to implement the constraints made some
incorrect assumptions. Fix for #120701, #120756, #123165,
#123631, #123838.
2003-09-19 Rob Adams <readams@readams.net>
Fix a bug with partial-width panel struts caused by incorrect
computation of rectangle widths, and another when using different
screen resolutions on xineramas. See #122404. Also fix a crash
bug with the MRU list when sticking and unsticking windows. See
#120809.
* src/constraints.c (get_outermost_onscreen_positions): Fix
off-by-one error with partial-width struts.
* src/window.c (meta_window_update_struts): Fix off-by-one error
with partial-width struts.
(meta_window_stick): assign back to GList after g_list_append
(meta_window_unstick): assign back to GList after g_list_append
* src/workspace.c (ensure_work_areas_validated): For right and
bottom struts, compute strut relative to root window and not to
xinerama edge in compliance with EWMH recommendations.
2003-08-20 Rob Adams <robadams@ucla.edu>
* src/constraints.c (meta_window_constrain): do northwest resize
when maximizing and fullscreening to avoid potential "off-by-one"
problems.
2003-08-18 Rob Adams <robadams@ucla.edu>
* src/constraints.c (meta_window_constrain): recalculate frame
geometry if the window gets maximized after placement, since it's
likely to change. Fix for #120117.
2003-08-14 Rob Adams <robadams@ucla.edu>
Allow windows that are too tall for the workarea to break the
onscreen constraints just enough so that their bottom edges can be
made visible. Fix for #106740. Also, changes constraints to
constrain the resize and then the move to avoid complexities in
the code for the above fix.
* src/constraints.c (get_outermost_onscreen_positions)
Compute the "effective" height of the work area and the minimum
size for the window to compute a value by which a window is
allowed to violate the top constraint.
(meta_window_constrain): convert to a resize then a move instead
of a move then resize.
2003-07-27 Rob Adams <robadams@ucla.edu>
* src/window.c (update_move): Update window shaking loose so that
the window is moved to the pointer and certain drag state is
properly restored once windows "reattach". Fix for #115000 based
on the patch by Jurg Billeter.
* src/screen.c (meta_screen_resize): Invalidate work areas after
an xrandr screen size update. Fix for #117230.
* src/stack.c (window_is_fullscreen_size): Check the bottom corner
of the window in addition to the top corner. Fix for #118194.
* src/constraints.c (meta_window_constrain): Support aspect ratio
hints in the new constraints code. Fix for #113798.
* src/tools/metacity-window-demo.c (toggle_aspect_ratio): toggle
the aspect ratio hints to force a 16:9 aspect ratio.
(do_appwindow): add a button to toggle aspect ratio.
2003-06-26 Havoc Pennington <hp@pobox.com>
* src/workspace.c (meta_workspace_invalidate_work_area): nuke the
lists of struts here, to improve confidence that we never try to
use them after a window with rects in the list gets freed.
(it wasn't broken before I don't think, just making the
code more robust against future mods)
* src/window.c (meta_window_update_struts): replace magic "75"
with a macro
* src/constraints.c (constraint_hints_applies_func): don't apply
hints to maximized or fullscreen, rather than only fullscreen
(constrain_move): add paranoia max number of iterations to the
heuristic loop
2003-06-10 Rob Adams <robadams@ucla.edu>
Update constraints code to support the new _NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL
EWMH draft specification. See #86682. Also, fix a bug involving
work area invalidation on metacity startup. Fix for #108497.
Finally, some minor fixes for full screen windows.
* src/window.h: Add new MetaStruts structure to store strut rects
for a window. Remove has_struts and do_not_cover flag, and
support new MetaStruts instead of the four ints.
* src/window.c (meta_window_new): change initialization to work
with new struts. Also, move meta_window_update_struts call to
after the workspaces are initialized to fix#108497. Remove
do_not_cover and related code.
(process_property_notify): add strut_partial
(update_struts): change function name to meta_window_update_struts
and expose in external MetaWindow API. Support partial width
struts and the new strut rects.
* src/workspace.h: add new GSLists containing pointers to all
relevant struts for this workspace.
* src/workspace.c (meta_workspace_new): initialize the list of
strut rects for this workspace.
(meta_workspace_free): free the strut rect lists
(ensure_work_areas_validated): support new struts and new strut
rect lists. Unleash the per-xinerama work areas.
* src/constraints.c (get_outermost_onscreen_positions): Use the
current window position along with the new per-workspace strut
rects to compute the constraints that apply to a particular
window.
(constraint_hint_applies_func): don't do hints constraints on
fullscreen windows
(update_position_limits): for maximized windows use the work areas
to set the position limits; for other windows rely on the struts
constraints to be computed later in
get_outermost_onscreen_positions
(meta_window_constrain): don't apply aspect ratio hints to full
screen windows
* src/display.c (meta_display_open): add _NET_WM_STRUT_PARTIAL atom
(meta_rectangle_equal): new helper function for MetaRectangles
(event_queue_callback): #ifndef out if USE_GDK_DISPLAY not set to
avoid compiler warning
* src/display.h: add atom_net_wm_strut_partial, and add
meta_rectangle_equal.
* src/screen.c (meta_screen_rect_intersects_xinerama): change
_window_intersects_ to _rect_intersects_ which is more useful now.
(meta_screen_resize_func): update struts on windows with struts
since struts are relative to the screen size, and this function is
called when the screen size updates.
* src/screen.h (meta_screen_rect_intersects_xinerama): change
_window_intersects_ to _rect_intersects_ which is more useful now.
* src/window-props.c (meta_display_init_window_prop_hooks): add
hook for strut_partial
* src/tools/metacity-window-demo.c: Support partial-width struts
on the dock window tests for metacity testing purposes.
2003-06-09 Rob Adams <robadams@ucla.edu>
Revamp placement policy for windows that are maximized when they
are mapped, including windows that set a hint to be maximized or
windows that are auto-maximized using our heuristic. See #111902.
* src/window.h: add new flag maximize_after_placement and new
function meta_window_maximize_internal.
* src/window.c (meta_window_new): initialize
maximize_after_placement to FALSE and remove the automaximize
heuristic.
(meta_window_maximize_internal): new function accepts a saved_rect
argument to be used as the new saved_rect for the window, and does
not queue a move_resize.
(meta_window_maximize): re-implement using
meta_window_maximize_internal.
(update_net_wm_state): If a window has a maximize hint set on
startup set maximize_after_placement to TRUE
* src/constraints.c (meta_window_constrain): Update the xinerama
information in the ConstraintInfo after placing the window, and
maximize the window after placement if
window->maximize_after_placement
* src/place.c (find_first_fit): take a natural xinerama list as an
argument instead of generating it here
(constrain_placement): remove function, since it is no longer
needed
(meta_window_place): generate the natural xinerama list here and
pass it into find_first_fit. If find_first_fit fails, use the
list to find empty xineramas where we can place windows that may
be maximized later. This makes maximized windows follow the
correct placement policy. Move the automaximize heuristic here.
2003-05-01 Rob Adams <robadams@ucla.edu>
* src/constraints.c (constraint_onscreen_applies_func): Don't
apply onscreen constraints to full screen windows. Fix for
#110048
2003-03-14 Rob Adams <robadams@ucla.edu>
* contraints.c (get_outermost_screen_positions): Don't try to
force a window onscreen by more than its width. Fix for #94815.
2003-03-11 Rob Adams <robadams@ucla.edu>
* src/constraints.c (meta_window_constrain): include left frame
geometry when maximizing or fullscreening windows. Fix for
#108127.
2003-02-27 Havoc Pennington <hp@redhat.com>
Switch over to new constraints code, unquestionably introduces
some bugs, but should get us on the right path.
* src/window.c (meta_window_get_work_area_all_xineramas): create
this function again as it turned out to be legitimate for window
position constraint
(adjust_for_gravity): use the width/height from the configure
request to compute the requested move
(meta_window_move_resize_internal): use meta_window_constrain
(update_size_hints): clamp max size to MAXSHORT to avoid worrying
about overflow stuff
* src/constraints.c (meta_window_constrain): don't base placement
on uninitialized variables, general hacking
* src/Makefile.am (metacity_SOURCES): add constraints.c,
constraints.h
* src/constraints.c (meta_window_constrain): update the
cut-and-paste aspect ratio code to have latest bugfixes
2002-07-28 Havoc Pennington <hp@pobox.com>
* src/window.c (meta_window_shade): disable animation when shading
windows, just doesn't really convey the idea anyway.
* src/effects.c: Move to using a shaped window instead of
IncludeInferiors to do the animations, looks a lot better
because we don't have to grab the server.
* src/window.c (meta_window_change_workspace): remove bogus
assertion that was causing a crash
(meta_window_new): auto-fullscreen huge undecorated windows.
* src/keybindings.c (switch_to_workspace): use
meta_window_change_workspace() to avoid same bug in cut-and-paste
code from there
2002-07-20 Havoc Pennington <hp@pobox.com>
* src/display.c (meta_display_open): grab display across managing
each screen; XGetInputFocus() on startup.
2002-07-19 Havoc Pennington <hp@pobox.com>
* src/window.c (meta_window_configure_request): disable configure
requests during a user move/resize operation, mostly a workaround
for stoopid apps.
