GeordieM Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Hi all, I have a very annoying problem where almost all the popup dialog windows like Type Properties or the Expression Editor appear behind my main Houdini windows. I have a 3 monitor setup but only use 2 for Houdini: +----------+ +----------+ +-----+ + Main + + Second + +Other+ + Houdini + + Houdini + + + +----------+ +----------+ + + +-----+ Doesn't seem to matter which window I use though as the diaogs appear behind the main and Second Houdini windows. Info: Houdini 13.0.582 (same problem with H14 though) Window 7 Is there a setting to make diaogs always on top of the main windows somewhere? Thanks! G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeordieM Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Just found this so it's not just me http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=172&page=viewtopic&t=27045&view=next&sid=01c036895654bce7417a42305a51c6f6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tar Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Must be a Windows thing, no issues on OsX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magneto Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Just found this so it's not just me http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=172&page=viewtopic&t=27045&view=next&sid=01c036895654bce7417a42305a51c6f6 This is very common on Windows mate. I always see it if I bring up for example display options over the viewport and then click on the viewport outside this dialog. So either I close it so I don't have to press D several times to restore it, or I move it slightly off the viewport. Hard to get support to resolve this though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeordieM Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 OK thanks for the confirmation it's not me missing something, I'll try and conjure up some windows handles black magic to fix it. I'll post back if I succeed, or if Satan appears in my task bar. G 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renochew Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 It happened a lot to me too to the extent that I already see as a "normal" behaviour. I worked with 2 monitors with different solution, not sure if that's make the problem worse, but its really annoying and sometime there is no way to bring the dialog box upfront and I am force to kill houdini. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeordieM Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 OK I fixed it with AutoIt. What to do: Download and Install AutoIt: https://www.autoitscript.com/site/ Extract Houdini_PopupsOnTop.au3 from Houdini_PopupsOnTop.zip attached to this post. Double click Houdini_PopupsOnTop.au3 You should see an AutoIt tray icon if it's running correct. Now when you use Houdini ALL the popups should be set to always on top. This is the functionality I wanted, let me know if you'd like something else, for example just put the popups to the foreground but not always on top. Also this means we can pretty much do ANYTHING to ANY Houdini windows on Windows so if there's any other weird issues let me know. Satan did make a brief appearance when I tried to do this in Python but we had some beers and everything's OK. TNKS! G Houdini_PopupsOnTop.zip 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeordieM Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 PS This script can be compiled down to an EXE so you don't need to install AutoIt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeordieM Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 So as soon as I made this one of my colleagues requested the put windows infront but not always on top feature. There are some edge case problems I don't have time to fix right now but it works pretty well and these are only in the "To Front" option not the "Always On Top" option. I've attached a zip with the script and compiled exe (with Houdini icon for extra pzazz) Now if you right click on the tray icon you'll get 3 options: Aways On Top - Sets any Houdini popups to be always on top (default) To Front - Just tries to set the popup infront of other Houdini winodows Disabled - Do Nothing You can also click "Set Open Windows to On Top" to do that. Let me know if you find any bugs etc. TNKS! Houdini_PopupsToFront.zip 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeordieM Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 Fixed some bugs with multiple popups being open. G HoudiniWindowWranger.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeordieM Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 More bug fixes: Worked out a better way to set the windows in front to get rid of the task bar animation. Made in front default (was always on top) Renamed the exe TNKS! G HoudiniWindowWranger.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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