use-ide-parent-window

Arguments: ide-configuration

An IDE configuration option that returns whether the IDE uses a parent window (with all other IDE windows contained within it) rather than a non-parent owner window (with its owned IDE windows floating freely on the screen). A true value indicates a parent window, while nil indicates an owner window.

The initial value is true. The owner window style could be used by evaluating the form

(setf (ide:use-ide-parent-window (configuration ide:*ide-system*))
      nil)

and then restarting the IDE (assuming that the save-options-on-exit option is enabled as it is by default). use-ide-parent-window does not appear on the Options dialog.

When this option is nil to use multiple top-level windows, the opaque background of a single parent window can be simulated by turning on the use-ide-background-window option, while still allowing the individual top-level windows to float freely.

On GTK a parent window is highly recommended because support for non-child owned windows is not adequate in the X window system. If you change the value to nil on GTK, things would generally work, but other applications could become intermingled in the window occlusion stack with the various IDE windows, and there would be a separate taskbar button and alt-tab choice for each owned IDE window (with most window managers).

In either case, the function main-ide-window will return the owner window of the various IDE tool windows. When an IDE parent window is used, the main-ide-window will be an instance of the ide-child-window class; this window is the frame-child of the IDE parent window, which is an instance of the ide-parent-window class. When an IDE owner window is used, the main-ide-window will be the IDE owner window itself, which is an instance of the ide-owner-window class. The function top-ide-window always returns the topmost IDE window.

See About child, parent, and owner windows in cgide.htm.

Compatibility note

Prior to 8.1, the default value on Windows was nil. This was largely because Microsoft menu-bars do not work on child windows, and form windows are child windows when an IDE parent window is used. We have remedied that situation by implementing menu-bars on child windows in Common Graphics.

Copyright (c) 1998-2009, Franz Inc. Oakland, CA., USA. All rights reserved.
Documentation for Allegro CL version 8.1. The object described on this page has been modified in the 8.1 release; see the Release Notes.
Created 2007.4.30.