Smarter desktop applet placement

[Ambroz Bizjak]

Alex wrote:
> Suppose the user adds a panel, causing an applet that is in the way to be
> "temporarily repositioned" as though it had just been added.  Then, three
> weeks (or some other long amount of time) later, the user changes or
> removes
> the panel.  Does the applet (which the user has left where it jumped to,
> because they decided they actually quite like it there) suddenly jump
> back?

The "temporary repositioning" is only activated when there is really no
space left for the applet. Try my demo app (qmake && make && ./layout), it
clearly shows how resizing is handled; see how applets jump when they
can't stay on the screen, but reappear when it's large enough.

An applet that is not on its preferred position (has been moved
automatically) will only jump back if the user doesn't move or resize the
applet during that time. Moving/resizing an applet will update its
preffered position.
Unfortunately, preferred positions are not saved on shutdown and on a new
load previous physical positions will be used as preferred (I somehow
forgot about that).
So the answer to your question is: it won't unless the user kept the
system logged in for weeks (for now).

Though, you can't really be sure everything will be exactly the same if
you changed at least one thing while your screen was shrunk; applets you
haven't touched may push away applets you have touched when the screen
goes back. However, the order of the applets on the screen should not
change.